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Charles Peirce. The Fixation of Belief. Logic. Logic: the art of reasoning. Drawing inferences. Logic is the foundation of science. Reasoning. Medieval: Authority and Reasoning Roger Bacon (1214-1294): Experience (internal illumination)
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Charles Peirce The Fixation of Belief
Logic Logic: the art of reasoning. Drawing inferences. Logic is the foundation of science.
Reasoning Medieval: Authority and Reasoning Roger Bacon (1214-1294): Experience (internal illumination) Francis Bacon (1561-1626): Experience that is verifiable and re-examinable. Modern scientist: Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler Galileo “…by manipulating real things instead of words and fancies.”
Logic and Science The development of the logic of science. What is experience? Internal illumination vs. external facts. Probabilities, statistics, and scientific theories on properties of gases and Darwinism. “…in which questions of fact and questions of logic are curiously interlaced.”
Logic of Science Early scientists: Copernicus, Tycho, BeaheKapler Galileo. Observation Science is descriptive and not prescriptive. “Kepler undertook to draw a curve through the places of Mars; and his greatest service to science was impressing on men’s minds that this was the thing to be done if they wished to improve astronomy; that thy were not to content themselves with inquiring whether one system of epicycles was better than another, but that they were to sit down to the figures and find out what the curve, in truth, was.”
Logic and Facts There are factual claims that pertain to populations but not to individuals, and these can only be arrived at through statistical, mathematical methods, over the long run. Examples: properties of gases (small molecules), Darwin’s evolution by natural selection, actuaries, and health facts.
Good Reasoning “Reasoning is good if it be such as to give a true conclusion from true premises, and not otherwise. Thus the question of its validity is purely one of fact and not of thinking.” Good reasoning must include facts.
Good Reasoning Good reasoning and facts “A being the premises and B the conclusion, the question is, whether these facts are really so related that if A is B is. If so, the inference is valid; if not not. It is not in the least the question whether, when the premises are accepted by the mind, we feel an impulse to accept the conclusion also.”
Reasoning and Hope “Most of us, for example, are naturally more sanguine and hopeful than logic would justify. … Where hope is unchecked by any experience, it is likely that our optimism is extravagant.”
Doubt, Belief and Inquiry (1) Belief and doubt cause different sensations (feelings) in us. We know when we want to ask a question. (2) Beliefs “guide our desire and shape our actions.” Beliefs predispose us to act in certain ways when the occasion presents itself. (Beliefs come in degrees). (3) A belief is a satisfying sensation. A doubt is an irritable sensation.
Doubt and Inquiry Doubt stimulates us into action until it is destroyed. “The irritation of doubt causes us a struggle to attain a state of belief.” This struggle is called “inquiry”. “Inquiry”: the struggle from doubt to belief.
Belief and Truth The idea that we do not just want a firm belief but a true belief is nonsensical because to believe something firmly is the best we do. Things that are outside the sphere of our knowledge cannot influence our thinking. “The most that can be maintained is, that we seek for a belief that we think to be true.”
Purpose of Inquiry “Settling opinion” 1) Must be a real doubt. 2) Demonstrations do not require indubitable premises or self-evident premises, instead they simply require beliefs that are free of doubt. “If the Premises are not in fact doubted at all, they cannot be more satisfactory than they are.”
Methods of Inquiry 1) Tenacity 2) Authority 3) A priori
Tenacity Tenacity as a method of fixing belief works by holding on blindly or by faith to a belief. Ignoring any information that might question or undermine the belief. Avoiding all people who have contrary beliefs.
Problem with Tenacity The problem with tenacity is that it only works for an individual because we cannot compare and share our beliefs without ricking its firmness. Knowledge is a communal affair. Our goal is HOW TO FIX BELIEF IN THE COMMUNITY (not just the individual).
Authority An authoritative power can dictate, form and sustain a firm set of opinions that are fixed and stable for an entire community. The use of force, such as an inquisition, is an effective method to secure firm and stable beliefs.
Problem with Authority Not all beliefs of all individuals can be governed. Eventually individuals will be exposed to different beliefs and different opinions. They will come to see that their opinion is accidental and that there is nothing that makes their opinion more valuable than the opinion of others from other societies or from other eras.
A priori Let us develop opinions according to to our natural preference. According to what is “agreeable to reason.” “That which we find ourselves inclined to believe.” The settlement of opinions for communities ought to begin with first principles derived from insight or reason.
Problem with a priori method The problem with the a priori method is that “it makes inquiry something similar to the development of taste.” Not very different than authority. Here we appeal to the authority of individual conscience.
Criteria “To satisfy our doubts, therefore, it is necessary that a method should be found by which our beliefs may be caused by nothing human, but by some external permanency by something upon which our thinking has no effect.”
Methods of Fixing Beliefs for the Community Do not work Works Tenacity Authority A priori We need a method that that is independent of human particularity, and accidental circumstances. Something that is not human dependent. Something that will cause the ultimate conclusion for every man to be the same.
The Method and Error The only method that can detect error and therefore has a process of self-assessment is the scientific method. The methods of authority, tenacity and a priori are incorrigible. Only the scientific method can differentiate between bad reasoning and good reasoning.
A Method that Works: Science What does it mean “to work”? To settle opinion for the community. To determine the way things are independent of our desires and feelings about things.
Confidence in Reality Reality “There are real things, whose characters are entirely independent of our experience about them; those sensations are as different as our relations to the objects, yet, by the taking advantage of the laws of perception, we can ascertain by reasoning how things really are, and any man if we have sufficient experience and reason enough about it, will be led to the one true conclusion.”
How do I know there is a reality? I posit this reality to support my method, therefore, I cannot use the method to support this reality. Method Reality Supports Method Reality Supports
1st Argument The method of science posits as a hypothesis the conception of Reality. The truth of the hypothesis of the conception of reality creates a harmonious and consistent relationship with the method of science. They mutually support one another.
Other Arguments • 2nd Argument: The dissatisfaction with other methods is that they lead to two repugnant propositions. • This then is an admission that there is but one reality. • 3rd Argument: Scientific method is used for many things. • 4th Argument: The scientific method is extremely successful.
Advantages of other Methods Note that the other methods have their own advantages. For instance the method of tenacity usually leads to success in life. However, none is as good, if what you want is your beliefs to coincide with facts. Peirce says, “…what is more wholesome than any any particular belief is integrity of belief…”
