Bibliography

Reason's Conscience: A Practical Treatise on the Theory of Discovery; Wherein logic is conceived as Semeiotic

Esthetics is that normative science which studies the conditions of that kind of excellence which objects may possess in their presentation, or appearance, regardless of their relations.

Ethics is that normative science which studies the conditions of that excellence which may or may not belong to voluntary action in its relation to its purpose.

Science of Discovery is that science which is pursued simply to find out the truth, regardless of what is to be done with that knowledge.

Idioscopy is that science which is occupied in making new observations and which uses these to find out what further it can by inference.

Logic is that branch of normative science which studies the conditions of truth, or that kind of excellence which may or may not belong to objects considered as representing real objects.

[—]

…logic, as a normative science, entirely disregards what the particular state of things may be, and undertakes [to] show what procedure must lead to the discovery of truth, whatever that truth may be.

Mathematics is the study of what is or is not logically possible, without undertaking to ascertain what actually exists.

Metaphysics is that branch of philosophy which inquires into what is real, that is, what has anything true of it regardless of whether anybody thinks it is true or not.

Normative science is that science which considers any kind of excellence, and endeavors to formulate the conditions under which an object would possess that excellence, without undertaking to say whether given objects possess that excellence or not.

Ontology is that branch of metaphysics which endeavors to determine the nature and kinds of reality.

Pedagogy, properly speaking, is a branch of rhetoric, namely, the art of teaching, and only concerns the teacher; but the word is often extended to the art of learning, a branch, or fruit, of logic, which is usually and properly taught to pupils in schools. This art will form no part of the subject of this book; but it is pertinent to the question just put to remark that the power of discriminative attention, the power of well-coordinated exertion, and the power of readily acquiring habits, can all three be enormously strengthened by well-planned exercises steadily persisted in.

Knowledge takes its rise from the percept, which is the object perceived in a single act of perceiving. [—] The percepts are not knowledge, but are the starting points of knowledge, in which many percepts and possibilities of percepts are worked up into propositions.

Phenomenology is that branch of philosophy which endeavors to describe in a general way the features of whatever may come before the mind in any way.

Philosophy is that science which limits itself to finding out what it can from ordinary everyday experience, without making any special observations.

Physical Metaphysics studies the foundations of physiognosy.

Physiognosy is that branch of idioscopy which observes by the senses and reasons upon what it observes, without the exercise of those faculties by which we recognize persons and moral influences.

Practical Science, or the theory of the arts, is that science which is selected, arranged, and further investigated in details as a guide to the practice of an art.

Religious Metaphysics studies metaphysics in the interest of man’s spiritual aspirations.

Psychognosy is that branch of idioscopy which observes the evidences of beings like ourselves and reasons upon them.

Science of Review is that science which endeavors to form a systematized digest of the whole or some part of human knowledge, using whatever the science of discovery has brought to light and filling up its lacunae for its own purpose by investigations of its own.

The study of languages ought to be based upon a study of the necessary conditions to which signs must conform in order to fulfill their functions as signs. I have gradually been led to conclude that it is best to identify logic with this study, notwithstanding its thus being made to include something which has no bearing upon the strength of arguments. For there is but little of this superfluous matter, - too little to make a separate science of, - and it is needed for its linguistic and rhetorical applications, as well as having a value simply as truth; and a simpler unity is thus given to logic. I might, therefore, very well call it speculative semeiotic.

… to believe the absolute truth would be to have such a belief that under no circumstances, such as actually occur, should we find ourselves surprised.