Jerry,
I agree. I ordered the book and look forward to your forthcoming post on
the topic.
As we chemists (and Peirce, I am sure), the quantitative balancing of both
sides of a chemical reaction is called "stoichiometry", i.e., "a branch of
science that deals with the application of the laws of definite proportions
and of the conservation of matter and energy to chemical activity".
We may recognize two kinds of "balancing" of the ledger -- (i) QUANTITATIVE
balancing involving numbers (as in chemistry) and (ii) QUALITATIVE
balancing expressed in words (as in logic). I have the impression that most
contemporary philosophical discussions and debates (including on these
lists, except perhaps Peirce himself !) are almost completely dominated by
the latter kind of balancing. In contrast, most discussions in natural
sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, engineering) are almost completely
dominated by the first kind of balancing. Due to rapid increase in human
knowledge in all fields of inquiry in recent decades (especially after the
Internet), it seems to me that natural sciences and human sciences
(including philosophy) are slowly but surely merging into a unified field
of human intellectual experiences which I would not mind identifying with
Peirce's semiotics.
So, just as there was the inscription above the entrance to Plato's
Academy, reading "*Let no one ignorant of geometry* enter here", it may be
necessary to put up the inscription above the entrance to Peirce's Virtual
Academy (e.g., PEIRCE-L, biosemiotics, etc.), reading
"Let no one ignorant of chemistry enter here."
All the best.
Sung
On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 3:02 PM, Jerry LR Chandler <jerry_lr_chand...@me.com
> wrote:
> Gary:
>
> On Jul 15, 2015, at 2:21 PM, Gary Richmond wrote:
>
> Why must the sides of the ledger balance?
>
>
> I've been mulling this over since I read it and haven't yet been able to
> come to an adequate answer to your question. At the moment I'm thinking it
> might have something to do with Peirce's idea that every individual is a
> kind of society, while every society is also a kind of individual.
>
>
>
> "Balancing the ledger" is one of the fundamental principles of chemistry
> which requires that the abductive logic of molecule compound formation from
> elements is NECESSARY to balance ALL chemical reactions.
>
> This is just another example of the role of chemical logic played in
> influencing his philosophical perspectives.
>
>
> Cheers
>
> jerry
>
>
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--
Sungchul Ji, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
Rutgers University
Piscataway, N.J. 08855
732-445-4701
www.conformon.net
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