ABSTRACT
C. S. Peirce exerts his primary influence on architecture through his theory of signs. Peirce founded the school of thought known as Pragmatism. Pragmatism provides a main point of contact between Peirce and other twentieth-century thinkers. Pragmatism affirms embodiment and the engagement of the senses in human experience. It also asserts the formative power of technology in human affairs. The pragmatic attitude clearly resonates with the material, craft and embodied orientation of much architectural practice. Pragmatism provides a main point of contact between Peirce and other twentieth-century thinkers. Peirce’s followers commonly set his Pragmatism in opposition to the philosophical movement known as Logical Positivism. Logical Positivism rests similarly on a principle: the verification principle. This principle is of interest in so far as it has parallels to Peirce’s pragmatism. Peirce’s philosophy of Pragmatism currently has greater support in architectural discourse than Logical Positivism.
