John and list, You wrote: "Peirce's ethics of terminology is important. But he made an important distinction: If an author's term is adopted and used by other authors, then the person who coined that term has an obligation to continue using it in the same sense in which it is being used. But if nobody else is using the term, the original author is free to revise or replace it.”
One glaring exception is Peirce’s change from the word “pragmatism” to the word “pragmaticism.” It came after FCS Schiller, not the musician, warped the meaning in his collection of essays on pragmatism that he titled “humanism.” In that collection he relegated Peirce to a footnote but attacked him ad hominin. Except for this, I’ll stay out this interesting discussion on terminology. Mary Libertin Professor Emerita of English Shippensburg University > On May 3, 2020, at 11:35 AM, John F. Sowa <s...@bestweb.net> wrote: > > Gary R and Jon AS, > > Peirce's ethics of terminology is important. But he made an important > distinction: If an author's term is adopted and used by other authors, then > the person who coined that term has an obligation to continue using it in the > same sense in which it is being used. But if nobody else is using the term, > the original author is free to revise or replace it. > > In the half century of his writings, the meanings of many of his terms > evolved, and he sometimes changed his terminology without stating exactly how > the new terms were related to the old ones. Since most of his MSS were not > intended for publication, he was under no obligation to preserve the terms. > > CSP as quoted by JAS: "a general agreement concerning the use of terms and of > notations,--not too rigid, yet prevailing with most of the co-workers in > regard to most of the symbols, to such a degree that there shall be some > small number of different systems of expression that have to be mastered" (CP > 2.220, EP 2:263). > > GR> I couldn't agree more; it is my view as well. > > Yes, I would also agree. But note the qualifications: (1) "prevailing with > most of the co-workers", and (2) "there shall be some small number of > different systems of expression that have to be mastered". > > After 1903, when it became obvious that Russell's terminology for logic was > becoming more widely used, he avoided some of the terms in his earlier > publications, and he adopted some of the terms that were becoming more widely > used. > > When we're writing textual criticism of Peirce's writings, it's essential to > preserve the exact terms that occur in each quoted passage. But when we're > writing for a 21st. audience, we're obligated to consider what is "prevailing > with most of the co-workers". > > But there is much more to say about these issues. > > John > > > ----------------------------- > 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 . > > > >
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