The Story of Charles Sanders Peirce

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief introduction to C.S. Peirce’s background and an outline of his life story. It explains that Peirce was born in America in 1839 and died in 1914. He published little in his own lifetime and he continually struggled to become recognised as a respected author with ideas that were original and unique. Over his lifetime, he developed an expertise in logic, philosophy, history, linguistics, geodesy, gravimetrics, physics, chemistry, astronomy and cosmology. He was the founder of pragmatism, of semiotics and of new creations in inferential logic and a method of inquiry that could be applied to scientific problems as well as education and daily living. Despite his achievements, he was a difficult man to relate to and he led a tragic life that ended in obscurity, poverty and unhappiness. He died without the recognition that many now believe he rightly deserved. This introductory chapter concludes that the reason for his lack of success in life was due to three factors: first, the complexity and sophistication of his philosophy; second, his personality and behaviour and third, his lifestyle which was morally questionable for the times he lived in.