Suteerth, List: Thanks for your response. FYI, my middle name is Alan (not Allen), and List protocol is that we "reply all" to any post to which we are responding, or (my personal preference) simply reply and then change the "To:" line to [email protected]. Either way, the "Subject:" line is then unchanged in everyone's e-mail inboxes, and the posts are properly threaded in the online archive (https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/arc/peirce-l/).
I am inclined to agree that "reducing our concepts to unity" likely means "explaining diverse things using one idea." As for the definition of "God," we have discussed in various recent threads--perhaps before you joined the List--that Peirce's was ultimately *Ens necessarium* (CP 6.452, EP 2:434, 1908), "that which would Really be in any possible state of things whatever" (R 339:[295r], 1908). Taken together, his much earlier texts that I quoted in my previous post ( https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/arc/peirce-l/2024-10/msg00046.html) seem to imply that "a hypothesis of a real God" corresponds to "the conception of *being*" as "that which completes the work of conceptions of reducing the manifold to unity," especially in conjunction with this passage that he wrote in between. CSP: Metaphysics consists in the results of the absolute acceptance of logical principles not merely as regulatively valid, but as truths of being. Accordingly, it is to be assumed that the universe has an explanation, the function of which, like that of every logical explanation, is to unify its observed variety. It follows that the root of all being is One; and so far as different subjects have a common character they partake of an identical being. (CP 1.487, c. 1896) In summary, Peirce appears to be saying that it is impossible to unify the observed variety of the universe--i.e., "bring our general conceptions to unity"--without the ideal conception and explanatory hypothesis of a real God as *Ens necessarium*, the One root of all being, "the Principle of all Phenomena" and "the author and creator of all that could ever be observed of Ideas, Occurrences, or *Logoi*" (R 339:[295r]). If that is right, then it answers my first two questions, but I remain interested in seeing what others have to say about all four of them. Regards, Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA Structural Engineer, Synechist Philosopher, Lutheran Christian www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt <http://www.linkedin.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt> / twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt On Wed, Oct 23, 2024 at 1:29 PM suteerth vajpeyi <[email protected]> wrote: > I am certainly not that well read in religious literature but I can still > put forward a conjecture. > What is meant by reducing our general conceptions to unity ? > By reducing our concepts to unity, peirce may mean explaining diverse > things using one idea. So we explain the multitude of the qualities, > relations and representations of dogs, cats, humans, apes, elephants, > giraffes etc. by bringing them all under one concept- the concept of a > mammal. How in the world is the idea of a god required for this? For that > we must try to define god. God is the ultimate ideal of all degrees of > truth, goodness and admirable-ness in the universe. That is why we worship > god. Ideals are required for all types of unification of ideas. For that we > must show that ideals are required for all the three peircean categories of > thought. Thirdness or thought requires a basic reference to truth. > Secondness or action requires a basic reference to the good and feeling > requires reference to admirableness. In other words, if thought, action and > feeling are to be able to fulfil their functions they must conform to > ideals. Finally goodness, truth and admirableness in an infinite degree all > united in one god/deity help to guide all the things we are capable of > doing that is thinking, acting and feeling. > I really have no clue about the non-controversial nature of this doctrine > so I cannot answer your third and fourth questions. > P.S. this is not decisive content. I can only hope that it helps to churn > thought in you and others with the result that better ideas are put forward. >
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