Ben, Edwina, lists, I agree. Semiosis (defined as an irreducibly triadic process) can, in principle, take place in inorganic reactions (although I cannot readily think of one). If you equate "thought" with semiosis which is irreduciblly triadic process, then "thought" can be said to occur in inorganic world. It is possible that the first irreducibly triadic process occurred in inorganic world which eventually evolved into more complex irreducibly triadic processes in organic world and the cosmos (?). If this is what Peirce is saying I am with him.
All the best. Sung On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 8:21 PM, Benjamin Udell <[email protected]> wrote: > Edwina, list, > > You're welcome. In fact, I wanted to add a line to the effect of "Edwina > will be happy to hear about this!" but I got bogged down in trying to word > it to strike quite the right note and so on. > > Best, Ben > > On 4/13/2015 8:12 PM, Edwina Taborsky wrote: > > Ben, thanks for the correction. It makes a LOT of sense. As you know, I've > used that quote many many times on the list - and using 'inorganic' rather > than organic - well, from all of Peirce's writings, that focus makes more > sense. He did refer to the inorganic realm as also engaged in semiosis. And > clearly explained how it became 'hidebound' with habits. > > Edwina > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Benjamin Udell <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Monday, April 13, 2015 8:01 PM > *Subject:* [PEIRCE-L] Nathan Houser's papers at academia.edu > > List, > > Nathan Houser has been uploading many of his papers to academia.edu. > > http://iupui.academia.edu/NathanHouser > > One does not need to actually download a PDF to read one of his papers. > Once one clicks on the "close" X of the download popup, the paper itself > appears in HTML form on the webpage. > > I've been reading his "The Scent of Truth" on abductive inference, and > came upon this tidbit of which I had been unaware. Nathan quotes Peirce and > adds and end note. > > Thought is not necessarily connected with a brain. It appears in the work > of bees,of crystals, and throughout the purely physical world; and one can > no more deny that it is really there, than that the colors, the shapes, > etc., of objects are really there.... Not only is thought in the inorganic > *³* world, but it develops there. (CP 4.551) > > 3. As reported in Houser 2000, in the faircopy manuscript that Peirce > submitted to _The Open Court_, he clearly wrote 'inorganic,' but the word > was set in type for publication in _The Monist_ as 'organic' and that > reading was carried over to the _Collected Papers_. > [End quote] > > It makes the sentence work better. If he had meant 'organic', it would > have been better to write, "In the organic world, not only is there > thought, but it develops there...." Still, could Peirce have let 'organic' > stand on purpose? After all, he could have corrected in the subsequent > errata. But I think he simply missed it, and that 'inorganic' was the word > that he intended. In the past I had put some weight on Peirce's (seemingly) > saying that thought originates in the organic world and his seeming silence > about whether it originates also in the inorganic world. > > Best, Ben > > > > ----------------------------- > PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON > PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to > [email protected] . To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L > but to [email protected] with the line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the > BODY of the message. More at http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm > . > > > > > > -- Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Rutgers University Piscataway, N.J. 08855 732-445-4701 www.conformon.net
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