Charles S. Peirce
I have just discovered Charles S. Peirce. Is there
anyone on the list familiar with his work and writings? In the following
article written for Popular
Science Monthly
in 1877 I was amazed by some of the parallellsin Abdu'l-Baha's various
commentaries. At first I thought perhaps Peirce had heard one of His talks
in America until I rechecked the date of the article. It was, however, 14
years after the Declaration of Baha'u'llah, and several years before EG Browne's
audience with Baha'u'llah.
When,
Where and Who was the 1st Western believer to declare ??
I
seem to stumble upon these things in the most round-about way. While
researching Black female leaders (in preparation for MLK observance...) I came
across a comment by Congresswoman Shirley Chislom, where she referred to herself
as a "pragmatic politician". This spurred me to investigate pragmatism -
which led to Peirce... No wonder I never get anything accomplished around
the house!
Here
is the link to his article on "The
Fixation of Belief"
http://www.peirce.org/writings/p107.html
Lovingly, Sandra
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re: Charles S. Peirce
Hello Sandra, I am somewhat familiar with Peirce and some of his writings, most of which are not published. Peirce is America's profoundest thinkers. and interests in his writing come from around the world. Besides being the founder of pragmatism he also developed semiotics. He was a logician, a scientist, and a believer. He wrote things like Evolutionary Love A Neglected proof of God. and presented concepts like Abduction and contrite fallabilism He is however a complex and difficult philosopher to understand. There are several book on Peirce and also several website including Arisbe http://members.door.net/arisbe/ and email list: Peirce-l accessible through the Arisbe web site. I had wonder if Peirce ever became aware of the Baha'i Faith and have found no indications that he had. This is about all about Peirce I should mention here and if people which to inquire further they should go to the resources I mentioned. Paul McKibben The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto (e-mail) is sent by the Johnson County Community College (JCCC) and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify JCCC by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. __ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
re: Charles S. Peirce
Thank you, Paul, for your comments and additional resource
information.
It's also reassuring to learn that
someone-elserecognized a similarityto the Sacred Writings in his
work. Whenever I encounter a seeming "familarity" I think of this
assurance from Baha'u'llah:
"Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses
revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the
fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every
righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its
effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or
later exercise its influence upon his soul."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of
Baha'u'llah, p. 295)
Lovingly, Sandra
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RE: The Primal Will and the Manifestation
Dear
Jack,
This
sounds like a question for Khazeh, but my understanding is that the Primal Will
is the Manifestation in His universal aspect, i.e. in the sense that They are
all one.
warmest, Susan
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-Original Message-From: Jack McLean
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005
2:58 PMTo: Susan ManeckCc: Ian Kluge; Stephen Lambden;
Todd LawsonSubject: The Primal Will and the
Manifestation
Dear Susan,
(copies to Ian,Steve and
Todd)
This may be subject to a no forward
rule, but if you can circulate this question on Bridges (if it's still going)
or elsewhere, I would appreciate it. I have received no satisfactory answer to
this question so far. It's a kalam type thing. If you don't know the answer,
please send this on to your scholar friends who are familiar with Islamic
theology and philosophy.
The question is coming out of Mark
Keedwell's study group on Sufism and the Baha'i Faith here in Ottawa which has
been going for about two years now.Several studentshave noticed a
dilemma, and thisquestion keeps coming up in our conversations, so we
believe it is significant. Thereis an abundance of texts that we have
consulted, both Baha'i and non-Baha'i, including Ibn al-Arabi and texts on
Islam.
Here is the question: Is
the Primal Will different from or identical to the Manifestation of God?
Of course, we can say both but in terms of the Baha'i ring symbol, and
'Abdu'l-Baha's tripartite explanation of the worlds of God, where does one
situate the Primal Will: with God or with the
Manifestation?
The passages that I have
studied so far indicate that the Primal Will appears in--or is
reflected--inthe Manifestation. If so, the Primal Will would appear to
be something different from the Manifestation.Take, for example, these
quotations from the Bab:
"If, however, thou art sailing upon the sea of
creation, know thou that the First Remembrance, which is the Primal Will of
God, may be likened unto the sun. God hath created Him through the
potency of His might, and He hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning,
caused Him to be manifested in every Dispensation through the
compelling power of His behest, and God will, to the end that knoweth
no end, continue to manifest Him according to the good-pleasure of His
invincible Purpose.
And know thou that He indeed resembleth the
sun. Were the risings of the sun to continue till the end that hath no end,
yet there hath not been nor ever will be more than one sun; and were its
settings to endure for evermore, still there hath not been nor ever will be
more than one sun. It is this Primal Will which appeareth
resplendent in every Prophet and speaketh forth in every revealed
Book. It knoweth no beginning, inasmuch as the First deriveth its
firstness from It; and knoweth no end, for the Last oweth its lastness unto
It." (Selections,pp. 125-126)
We cannot make the
conclusive argument based on these texts that the Primal Will=Manifestation,
i.e. is identical to.However, there is an obvious connection or
relationship, especially if you take the pan-theophanicpoint of view
that all is God. I am particularly trying to understand who (or what) is
dependent on whom (or what). Hierarchy comes into this question, at least with
the point of view I am taking.
If we take the view that
Baha'u'llah is identical to the Primal Will, then the problem is solved. He
sends down the Prophets. If the Most Great Spirit who generated the Holy
Spirit mentioned in the Suraytu'l Haykal is identical to the Primal
Will, then the dilemma is solved. If not, the problem
persists.
Here's another
consideration: If we say that the Primal Will is different from the
Manifestation then we are introducing a 4th level into 'Abdu'l-Baha's
categorical tripartite scheme of (1) God (2) Amr, i.e. Command/First Will,
First Mind/Word/Manifesation (3) CreatedWorlds. As you know,this
was a corrective ofSufism's
dualisticscheme.
In his excellent
translation and commentary on Baha'u'llah's Tablet of All Food, Steve
Lambden has rightly admittedthe speculative
