CHARLES S. PEIRCE AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY CHARLES S. PEIRCE AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY GÉRARD DELEDALLE Translated from French and introduced by SUSAN PETRILLI JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA 1990 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Deledalle, Gérard. [Charles S. Peirce, phénoménologue et sémioticien. English] Charles S. Peirce, 1839-1914 : an intellectual biography / Gérard Deledalle : translated from French and introduced by Susan Petrilli. p. cm. Translation of: Charles S. Peirce, phénoménologue et sémioticien. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 1839-1914. I. Title. B945.P44D42 1990 191 - dc20 [B] 89-35843 ISBN 90 272 2067 0 (alk. paper) CIP © Copyright 1990 - John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. By the same author On American thought "La psychologie expérimentale américaine" (American Experimental Psychology) in La psychologie contemporaine, in collab. with Paul Foulquié, P.U.F., 1954. Histoire de la philosophie américaine (History of American Philosophy), P.U.F., 1954. Le pragmatisme (Pragmatism), Bordas, 1971. La philosophie américaine (American Philosophy), Lausanne, L'Age d'Homme, 1983. Second edition revised and enlarged, Bruxelles, De Boeck-Wesmael, 1987. On Charles S. Peirce Ecrits sur le signe (Writings on Signs), collected, translated and com mented, Le Seuil, 1978. Théorie et pratique du signe (Theory and Practice of Signs), Payot, 1979. On John Dewey La pédagogie de John Dewey (John Dewey's Pedagogy), Editions du Scarabée, 1965. Vidée d'expérience dans la philosophie de John Dewey (The idea of experience in John Dewey's Philosophy), P.U.F., 1967. Logique: La théorie de l'enquête (Logic: The Theory of Inquiry 1838), by John Dewey, presentation, translation and notes, P.U.F., 1967. John Dewey's Unpublished Items, P.U.F., 1967. Démocratie et éducation (Democracy and Education 1916), by John Dewey, presentation and translation, Colin, 1975, n. ed. Lausanne, L'Age d'Homme, 1983. To Max Fisch, to whom Peirce studies owe so much. I wish to thank him here for the generosity with which he has always put at my disposal the unpub lished results of his detailed research on Peirce's work. For Janice and Myriame Table of Contents On the Semiotics of Interpretation: xi Introduction by Susan Petrilli Foreword by Max H. Fisch xxix Presentation xxxi Introduction 1 Chapter one: Leaving the Cave (1851-1870) 5 1. From Nominalism to the Critique of Kantian Logic 5 2. A New List of Categories 7 3. Against the Spirit of Cartesianism: A New "Realist" Concep tion of the Thought Process 11 4. Grounds of Validity of the Laws of Logic: The Nature of Reality and the Social Character of Logic 19 Chapter two: The Eclipse of the Sun (1870-1887) 23 1. Journeys and Professional Activities 23 2. Formation of the Logic of Relations and the New Conception of Propositions 24 3. Theory of Research 26 4. Mathematics and Symbolic Logic 36 - Boolian Logic 38 - Logic of Relatives and of Terms 39 - Propositional Logic 40 Truth Values 41 The Philonian Function 41 The System of Axioms 42 5. Discovery of Greek Cosmology 43 Chapter three: The Sun Set Free (1887-1914) 45 1. Arisbe 45 2. The system 46