Peirce's 1885 “Algebra of Logic” • Selection 1.1
• https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/03/24/peirces-1885-algebra-of-logic-sel…
All,
I'm laying down a few source materials
in preparation for a later discussion.
Selection from C.S. Peirce, “On the Algebra of Logic :
A Contribution to the Philosophy of Notation” (1885)
❝§1. Three Kinds Of Signs❞
❝Any character or proposition either concerns one subject,
two subjects, or a plurality of subjects. For example, one
particle has mass, two particles attract one another, a particle
revolves about the line joining two others. A fact concerning
two subjects is a dual character or relation; but a relation
which is a mere combination of two independent facts concerning
the two subjects may be called “degenerate”, just as two lines
are called a degenerate conic. In like manner a plural character
or conjoint relation is to be called degenerate if it is a mere
compound of dual characters.
❝A sign is in a conjoint relation to the thing denoted and to the mind.
If this triple relation is not of a degenerate species, the sign is
related to its object only in consequence of a mental association,
and depends upon a habit. Such signs are always abstract and general,
because habits are general rules to which the organism has become
subjected. They are, for the most part, conventional or arbitrary.
They include all general words, the main body of speech, and any
mode of conveying a judgment. For the sake of brevity I will call
them “tokens”. [Note. Peirce more frequently calls these “symbols”.]
Regards,
Jon
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