ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a reading of Peirce's "The Fixation of Belief" that emphasizes the actional dimension of inquiry. The method of science is superior to all other methods of inquiry. Israel Scheffler contends that The Object Claim and The Superiority Claim are inconsistent: Science does not, like the method of tenacity, yield "great peace of mind". Peirce's epistemology, as presented in "Fixation" at least, is focused on what can be called epistemic agency. Peirce holds that, like the method of tenacity, the method of authority cannot hold up in practice; he claims that no institution can undertake to regulate opinions upon every subject, only "the most important ones can be attended to". The beliefs of the community of inquiry are always subject to revision, yet the method of constantly testing beliefs against Reality with the aim of attaining truth is, Peirce says, "loved and reverenced" in the way a groom is committed to his bride.
