Gary F, List, I arrived home late last evening after my four day R&R holiday away from NYC. While away, having only my phone, I pretty much only skimmed my emails as I intended to "get away from 'all that'" for a few days with friends on Fire Island off Long Island in the Atlantic. As my company included a philosophically and ethically searching married couple around our ages, unquestionably endowed with the "Will to Learn," the conversations were as stimulating to fresh thinking on my part as the discussions once were on Peirce-L.
Then I returned to NYC and perused all the Peirce-L posts I'd merely glanced over while away. I must admit that I was again deeply distressed by what I read (and, in truth, what I've been reading for all too long on the List, reaching a kind of nadir in the past few years, esp. the last few months). As you may know, the leadership of TPG has been questioning whether, given the decline in the quality of List discussion, continuing it is worthwhile, esp. given its quasi-necessary support by IUPUI, certain financial considerations, etc. Indeed, one of the members of TPG's Board, specifically charged with guiding the operation of Peirce-L, finally stopped reading posts altogether several years ago when the rancor seemed to accelerate. Yet, because of the List's unique history and my deep and abiding respect for the work of that extraordinary Peirce scholar and, in my view, equally extraordinary human being, Joseph Ransdell, since the Peirce International Centennial Conference of 2014 where the question was put to me by Nathan Houser as to the viability of the List, I have argued for its continuation, hoping that *something* or *someone(s)* would change which might tend to improve the quality of List discussion. As I've occasionally remarked on the List, Peirce-L, as conceived of by Ransdell, is conceived of as a *discussion* forum and should not be seen as a place for "debates" where one team -- or person -- wins and the other loses based on 'entrenched opinions' and the like. I went to bed last night thinking that my hope -- for the revival of the spirit and practice of scholarly discussion which the List once had -- was, perhaps, a "hope against hope." Therefore, I would make one last appeal to the List for a reflection by all on the principles of scholarly discussion which Joe had so well articulated on the Peirce-l page of the Arisbe site. If no substantial change towards the improvement of the quality of List discussion happened in the weeks following, I'd give TPG my opinion of the current viability and value of Peirce-L and they could decide to act as they thought best (and from occasional discussions with Nathan Houser over the past six years, I had a strong sense of what their decision might be). Then I awakened to this post of yours which, arguing not exactly along the lines I might have, but in its approach far better than I could have given the biographical context of how you drew from List discussions to develop your own thinking about Peirce as well as develop your book, *Turning Signs*, it serves as an invitation for List members -- all of us -- to rethink how we, individually and in discussion, might find a way forward, to re-engage the "Will to Learn." As I read your other good post related to the slow read discussion, the one which Edwina called 'fine' I believe, re-read John's recent thoughtful post, saw how there perhaps were beginning to appear expressions of ideas and concepts upon which there seemed to be some substantial agreement, I wondered if this might prove to be a turning point for Peirce-L. If it proves to be, I would imagine that your post challenging us to better scholarship and, especially, improved collegiality will be remembered as the beginning of that change for the better. Certainly Edwina is quite right to say that all participants on the List, and not just me as moderator, ought to -- need to -- take responsibility for the ethical health of the List, so to speak, for scholarly discussions wherein we both challenge and learn from each other rather than the acrimonious debates which seem to have almost become the new normal here. So, thank you very much for your thoughtful post. Should it begin to bring about the positive changes which I'm hoping that it will, Peirce-L, and I as moderator, will be eternally grateful to you. Meanwhile, I too will try to ignore the complaints of the complainers unless they sink to the viciousness that has from time to time surfaced here and required my intervention as List moderator. But should the animosity and lack of collegiality continue to be expressed on the List, I have little expectation that neither Nathan House, the TPG, nor I will want to support the continuation of Peirce-L. As Abraham Lincoln said in an entirely different context, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Best, Gary Richmond (writing as List Moderator) “Let everything happen to you Beauty and terror Just keep going No feeling is final” ― Rainer Maria Rilke *Gary Richmond* *Philosophy and Critical Thinking* *Communication Studies* *LaGuardia College of the City University of New York* On Sun, Aug 29, 2021 at 11:24 AM <g...@gnusystems.ca> wrote: > List, > > Rather than take a side in this recurring “debate”, I’d like to take a > long view of how the list has changed over the two decades that I’ve been > subscribed to it. I will try to keep it relevant, but those who are > inclined to dismiss it as the mere reminiscences of an old man, or as a > statement representing some “tribe” or other, are welcome to do so. > > My first impression of the list, all those years ago, was that its > contributors were a group of people from diverse backgrounds, most of whom > were there for the purpose of *learning from Peirce,* or *learning about > Peirce,* or in many cases *both*. These people evidently had what Peirce > called “the Will to Learn. The first thing that the Will to Learn supposes > is a dissatisfaction with one's present state of opinion” (CP 5.583, > EP2:47, 1898). I certainly had good reason to be dissatisfied with *my* > opinions of what Peirce was saying, as I was still working my way through > the two volumes of *The Essential Peirce*, and finding that every Peirce > text I read was forcing me to modify my rather crude understanding of those > I had read previously. I was gradually building up a mental context which > guided my interpretation of whatever Peirce text I read next. At the same > time I was incorporating this developing understanding, along with many > texts from Peirce, into the philosophical book I was working on, which > eventually became *Turning Signs <https://gnusystems.ca/TS/index.html>*. > So I was simultaneously learning *from* and learning *about* Peirce. > > I got a lot of help in those days from other learners on the list, > especially those who took the trouble to post entire long excerpts from > Peirce’s work. It’s probably hard for more recent subscribers to realize > how limited online access to Peirce’s work was back then, even on the > *Arisbe* website; the situation has changed radically since then. Very > early on, I started making my own collection (in an HTML file) of many of > the Peirce texts I had read, arranged in chronological order, so that I > could easily revisit them in search of statements by Peirce that I > recalled, and recover the immediate context. By now, this searchable > collection of mine amounts to over 5MB and includes, besides the entire > contents of EP1 and EP2, many texts gleaned from CP, W, many anthologies, > secondary sources, and manuscript images I found online. (For help with > finding those manuscripts I must thank especially Jeff Downard and Jon Alan > Schmidt.) > > I included every one of these texts in my collection because they were > parts of my learning process, and in most cases it was *peirce-l posts by > other learners* that directed my attention to Peirce texts I had been > unaware of or unable to find. So I am eternally grateful to those other > learners; and soon I was able to “give back” to the list by posting > relevant quotations myself (always citing the source so that others could > find the original context if they took the trouble to do so). I’m still > doing that; so I plead guilty to the crime (according to a recent Bernard > Morand post) of posting Peirce quotations to the list. > > Over the early years of my participation in peirce-l, however, I began to > notice that not all the participants were demonstrating “the first thing > that the Will to Learn supposes.” Some were so satisfied with their own > opinions of what Peirce meant that they adamantly refused to modify them > when they were questioned or criticized by others. Some of them, who had > evidently based their notions of Peirce’s work on a relatively limited > stock of familiar quotations, began to complain when others posted > quotations from Peirce that were incompatible with their opinions about > Peirce’s system of philosophy or semiotics. > > In the past few years these complaints have grown louder, accompanied by > accusations of “cherry-picking” (as if the complainer’s own favorite quotes > were not cherry-picked out of context), and accusations of claiming some > sort of authority (as if the complainers were not asserting their own > expertise and authority as interpreters of Peirce). The complainers also > accuse the quoters of Peirce of misunderstanding Peirce’s work — not seeing > the beam in their own eye, the limitations of their own opinions about > Peirce. Hence the “debate” which has degenerated into an series of personal > attacks, with the attackers claiming to defend their right to an opinion, > or even claiming to defend Peirce, against the learners who insist on > posting what Peirce wrote. A genuine learner would not behave this way, but > would welcome opportunities to reconsider and perhaps modify their > entrenched opinions, especially when they are manifestly at odds with what > Peirce wrote (not with anyone’s *interpretation* of what Peirce wrote). > > These complaints and accusations directed against those who post Peirce > quotations to the list —especially those who point out their > incompatibility with interpretations expressed by the complainers — is in > my opinion the main reason for the decline in the quality of dialogue, and > indeed of the Will to Learn, on peirce-l. In the current slow read I have > tried (not always successfully) to behave like a learner instead of > engaging in academic turf wars. But most of the time I feel that we > learners, those of us still participating, are being outshouted by those > who are *very* satisfied with their own opinions about Peirce and > resentful of those who question them. > > Still, I made a commitment to carry on posting the material of the current > “slow read” and I intend to fulfill it. And when I feel a need to post > modifications of my (or others’) opinions about Peirce’s phaneroscopy, I > will continue to do so, and I hope other learners will do so too. As for > the loud complaints, I will do my best to ignore them, instead of provoking > more of them. —As this post will surely do, if any of the complainers > actually read it, since they will surely interpret it in their usual > combative way. > > Gary f. > > } Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make > them all yourself. [Eleanor Roosevelt] { > > https://gnusystems.ca/wp/ }{ living the time > > > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ > ► 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 UNSUBSCRIBE PEIRCE-L in the SUBJECT LINE of the > message and nothing in the body. More at > https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/help/user-signoff.html . > ► PEIRCE-L is owned by THE PEIRCE GROUP; moderated by Gary Richmond; and > co-managed by him and Ben Udell. >
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ► 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 UNSUBSCRIBE PEIRCE-L in the SUBJECT LINE of the message and nothing in the body. More at https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/help/user-signoff.html . ► PEIRCE-L is owned by THE PEIRCE GROUP; moderated by Gary Richmond; and co-managed by him and Ben Udell.
