ABSTRACT
We have now arrived at a general understanding of Peirce’s philosophical project. He seeks a first philosophy prior to all of the natural and human sciences, and is, throughout, sensitive to problems about just how there can be such a discipline. Using techniques drawn from mathematics and phenomenology, he attempts to construct a substantive conception of truth or reality, and he argues that it is rational to devote our lives to the scientific search for an accurate representation of that reality. By contributing to the growth of knowledge we can become fulfilled, autonomous and happy rational beings; we adopt an ultimate aim which we can continue to revere whatever misfortunes we may meet. Our task now is to examine more closely Peirce’s account of how we can act in accordance with this overriding aim, and his attempted proof that, when we seek the truth, we adopt an aim which is, in fact, attainable. He has to convince us that procedures are available to us that will reveal the nature of reality. We have already examined, in general terms, the fundamental notions that he employs, his system of categories and the theory of representation that he derives from his study of signs. We must now look more closely at the details of these theories by seeing how they are put to work in an account of how knowledge is possible. Thus, in chapter V we examine the role of perception in grounding claims to knowledge, in chapter VI we consider the validity of deductive reasoning and our mathematical practices, and in chapter VII we discover how the inductive methods of the sciences exploit perceptual information, mathematics and deductive reasoning to guide us towards the truth.
