Michael, Cathy, List, Michael, I also want to thank you for posting the link to Nathan Houser's review of Forster's *Peirce and the Threat of Nominalism*.
I had begun reading the book a few week's before you sent the review and had gotten a bit bogged down, mainly in the style, I think. There is, in my opinion, a tendency in it towards unnecessary repetition, for example. I also think Nathan' criticisms in the last paragraph of his mainly positive review are on target: namely, that Forster mixes references to Peirce's early and late work, neglects some of his "more developed ideas" (such as the work he did in semeiotic in the 20th century), centering his argumentation around the icon/index/symbol distinction, while neglecting the two later trichotomies of signs (so neglecting arguments as well as other types of qualisigns). Nathan also correctly notes that Forster concentrates almost exclusively on Peirce's earliest proof of pragmatism in that discussion. Still, the review encouraged me to finish reading the book, and I'm certainly glad that I did! One sees, finally, just how central the nominalism/realism question is for Peirce--and, I'd hold, ought to be for us. I want to conclude this note with a passage near the end of the book which I very much liked and have been reflecting on since. Forster writes: On [Peirce's] view, human beings are not cogs in a vast cosmic mechanism, but rather are free, creative agents capable of transforming the world though the active realization of intelligent ideals. The ultimate fate of the world is indeterminate and there is no guarantee that the forces of reasonableness will triumph. Nevertheless, the potential for victory is there. All it requires, he thinks, is a community of individuals who devote their energy to the pursuit of truth and goodness, a community united, not by mutual self-interest, but by a common love of reasonableness" (Forster, op. cit., 245). Cathy, this brought to my mind the discussion of Peirce's esthetics following Tom Short's fine talk in the Robin session at SAAP. Any thoughts on that in this connection? Best, Gary On 3/13/12, Michael DeLaurentis <michael...@comcast.net> wrote: > Glad to hear, Cathy - thanks. I agree with your assessment and, based only > on what Houser presents, his criticisms. The book itself is probably a > worthwhile read, perhaps worthy of further review here. > > > > From: C S Peirce discussion list [mailto:PEIRCE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU] On > Behalf Of Catherine Legg > Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 4:43 PM > To: PEIRCE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU > Subject: Re: [peirce-l] Book Review: "Peirce and the Threat of Nominalism" > > > > Michael I just read the book review from Nathan Houser you shared - it is > lucidly written over 6 pages and gives a commanding overview of Peirce's > realism. I really enjoyed reading it, thanks for posting it. > > Cathy > > On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 6:13 PM, Michael DeLaurentis <michael...@comcast.net> > wrote: > > If there has already been a post about this, my apologies. Book review just > in on CSP and nominalism. > > > > Michael J DeLaurentis > > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- > You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the PEIRCE-L > listserv. To remove yourself from this list, send a message to > lists...@listserv.iupui.edu with the line "SIGNOFF PEIRCE-L" in the body of > the message. To post a message to the list, send it to > PEIRCE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- > You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the PEIRCE-L > listserv. To remove yourself from this list, send a message to > lists...@listserv.iupui.edu with the line "SIGNOFF PEIRCE-L" in the body of > the message. To post a message to the list, send it to > PEIRCE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU > > _____ > > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4868 - Release Date: 03/13/12 > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the PEIRCE-L > listserv. To remove yourself from this list, send a message to > lists...@listserv.iupui.edu with the line "SIGNOFF PEIRCE-L" in the body of > the message. To post a message to the list, send it to > PEIRCE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU > -- Gary Richmond Humanities Department Philosophy and Critical Thinking Communication Studies LaGuardia College--City University of New York --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the PEIRCE-L listserv. To remove yourself from this list, send a message to lists...@listserv.iupui.edu with the line "SIGNOFF PEIRCE-L" in the body of the message. To post a message to the list, send it to PEIRCE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
