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 > > > ----------------------------- > PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON > PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to > peirce-L@list.iupui.edu . To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L > but to l...@list.iupui.edu with the line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the > BODY of the message. More at http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm > . > > > > > > -- 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
----------------------------- PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to peirce-L@list.iupui.edu . To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L but to l...@list.iupui.edu with the line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the BODY of the message. More at http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm .