Joe, After setting it aside for awhile, i've just returned to your original question: What are the "two fundamental psychological laws" upon which Peirce says the method of tenacity is based? I have another answer to suggest (at least i don't recall this exact suggestion being made before).
I think the two "laws" are actually stated in the paragraph (the first of of section V of FoB), but only one is stated directly in lawlike fashion: "a steady and immovable faith yields great peace of mind." The second is only implied, specifically in the image of the ostrich and Peirce's comment on the ostrich strategy, which immediately precedes his remark about the "two fundamental psychological laws". Stated more directly, this "law" is that a fixed habit of ignoring inconvenient facts also yields peace of mind. Thus it is a sort of negative counterpart to the "faith" of the first "law", which may justify the coupling of the two in Peirce's phrase. Even the casual manner in which these "laws" are mentioned is appropriate, given the contrast between the logical and the psychological which Peirce develops in this essay, and the contempt for "psychological laws" which is thinly veiled by his irony. Well, that's how i read it this time, anyway. gary F. }She'll confess it by her figure and she'll deny it to your face. [Finnegans Wake 271]{ gnoxic studies }{ http://users.vianet.ca/gnox/gnoxic.htm --- Message from peirce-l forum to subscriber archive@mail-archive.com