Dear Jon, All,
My remarks below.
> On Mar 28, 2021, at 10:16 PM, Jon Alan Schmidt <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> Sure, but what properly counts as "real data" in this context depends on
> which of these two questions we are primarily trying to answer.
> What is the truth of the matter?
> What was Peirce's view of the matter?
> When we are trying to leverage Peirce's insights in an effort to answer #1,
> we must first answer #2 accurately, and his own voluminous writings are where
> the "rubber meets the road" in that inquiry. One more time, someone who
> declines to be scrupulously faithful to Peirce's own concepts and terminology
> will be off the mark when attempting to apply them in other domains.
Does one really begin inferential reasoning by asking “what is the truth of the
matter?”I would have thought that truth can only be revealed at the end of
inquiry. It seems to me rather than one proceeds by looking at data and testing
hypotheses on one’s best understanding, approaching the truth asymptotically.
As to what Peirce’s view of the matter was, yes, that is very important. But
the best way to illumine others is to proceed by explanation via analysis. For
example, you do this very well in your discussions of mathematics, walking us
through examples of how, according to your understanding, Peirce’s ideas - if
they are as you claim - would work.
Since we know that exegesis of Peirce can be difficult (made much less so of
course by the Peirce Edition Project, one of the greatest intellectual
undertakings in philosophical history), examples help. For example “My
understanding of Peirce - give relevant quotes - has the following practical
consequences.”
“Real facts”(i.e. facts whose theoretical significance is clear) reveal
themselves as we work; as we reach consensus.
It isn’t that I don’t find all of these discussions incredibly useful! I do. I
just think that when we wind up quoting Peirce only instead of showing how the
ideas work out practically, we are not proceeding pragmatistically, as he would
have. He regularly revised his views in this way.
Dan
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