Dear Steven,
There's a copy of the thesis on Benjamin Peirce by Jodielynn Field Kuhn at the
PEP library ("Benjamin Peirce: A Bibliographical Overview", 2000). The author
did a very good job in terms of data and bibliography. It is a hundred pages of
very useful information. In case you are interested, but unable to find it, I
have a copy. I will need to scan it first though.
Vitaly
________________________________
From: Steven Ericsson-Zenith <ste...@iase.us>
To: PEIRCE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 2:54 AM
Subject: [peirce-l] The family of Benjamin Peirce
Dear List,
I have an increasing interest in Benjamin Peirce and his son James, Charles'
elder brother. I am curious about Charles' relationship with his brother, who
continued his father's work teaching mathematics at Harvard. I wonder about the
relationship for a number of reasons, but it is primarily to fill in the gaps
for me concerning Charles Peirce's intellectual life and the familial/social
climate of the time.
There is a strong indication in the literature that James was gay and
potentially the author (Prof X) of a particularly powerful and interesting (in
the sense of advanced and well-considered thinking) piece on the virtues of
homosexuality (or at least the reasons why there should be no objection to it),
and I note no disapproval or criticism of this by Charles or his father. Given
Charles' hardships later in life I also wonder whether James (his brother)
provided Charles with aid or property. And given the liberal nature of the
family I wonder about their view of Charles' later marriage.
I continue to see the roots of many of Charles' ideas in the work of his
father, although their vocabulary and ways of speaking differ. Benjamin's
"Ideality In The Physical Sciences" is an especially interesting read and I
find myself revising my initial views concerning Charles' religious background,
that I have previously considered naive from his own writings. Benjamin Peirce
has an especially sophisticated sensibility for traditional religious concerns
(Kierkegaardian almost) and the relationship with science, and he speaks
eloquently about it. His view is certainly suggestive of Charles' "unconsidered
argument" and in many ways his view is more sophisticated. Certainly his
conception of "God" is not the anthropomorphic conception and it is compatible
with Charles' view in that I would not expect Benjamin to object to the
"unconsidered argument." I am trying to decipher Benjamin's views on what I
will call "universal will."
As the picture becomes more fleshed out, the family of Benjamin Peirce as a
whole and Charles' "place" within it, leads me to expect that a fuller
understanding of this family, and its combined intellectual life, is necessary
for an understanding of Charles and his work.
Does anyone have pointers for me or suggestions about where I can find more
help with this?
With respect,
Steven
--
Dr. Steven Ericsson-Zenith
Institute for Advanced Science & Engineering
http://iase.info
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