The Oxford Handbook of Charles S. Peirce

Description

The Oxford Handbook of Charles S. Peirce brings together 35 essays on the American philosopher and polymath Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) with the aim of showing how his work is still relevant today. The volume takes its cues from Peirce's work in phenomenology and normative philosophy-where the latter includes, besides aesthetics and ethics, also logic. Within the domain of logic, attention is given to his work in formal logic as well as his work in graphical or diagrammatic logic. Ample attention is given also to Peirce's pragmatism and his metaphysics. The volume further includes biographical papers as well as papers on abduction, semiotics, linguistics, physics, biology, religion, history, science, and education.

Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) is likely the greatest philosophical thinker America has ever produced. His contributions to philosophy would inspire other American philosophers such as William James and John Dewey. Peirce's contributions, however, extend far beyond philosophy proper. Interpreting logic as the discipline that is devoted to the question of how one should reason, he saw himself first and foremost as a logician, one inspired by the desire to penetrate into the logic of things. This, more than anything, enabled him to do ground-breaking work in a great variety of areas, including several that were yet to develop. In part because of this, Peirce has been called the American Aristotle and the American da Vinci. It is precisely this attitude of wanting to penetrate into the logic of things, and to develop the tools for doing so, that keeps Peirce relevant today. The Oxford Handbook of Charles S. Peirce brings together thirty-four original essays on his work, showcasing state-of-the-art research in a broad variety of areas. Among other things, the Handbook touches upon phenomenology, logic, aesthetics, ethics, semiotics, physics, mathematics--and, of course, the tradition of pragmatism for which Peirce is well known as the founder, and which has enjoyed increased attention in recent years.