Jacob, List: Unless I am misunderstanding you, I disagree--I think that according to Peirce, a general as a continuum is infinite; in fact, it contains *potential *individuals exceeding *all *multitude.
I have been advocating the existence/reality distinction on the List for a while now, much to the consternation of some. Again, I do not think that it is primarily a matter of finite vs. infinite; rather, it is the difference between reacting with like things in the environment (existence) and being whatever it is regardless of whether anyone thinks so (reality). Regards, Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA Professional Engineer, Amateur Philosopher, Lutheran Layman www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt - twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 5:44 PM, jacob longshore <[email protected]> wrote: > Jon, List, > > Yes, I think you're right about that. Peirce's definitions of "generals" > are framed in terms of parts of a whole (and therefore *finite*), whereas > "universal" would apply to an *infinite *number of possible entities. > This distinction he holds throughout his career. > > We tend to use the two words interchangeably, which is where confusion > enters when reading Peirce on this. I don't see any incompatibility between > the different senses of "general" in the Century Dictionary; after all, it > is a dictionary reflecting usage. In his philosophical writings he's more > precise with his terminology. > > It's not unlike the distinction he makes between "existence" and > "reality"; in ordinary language we tend to identify the two, but Peirce > uses them in specific ways, and they fall in with the finite/infinite > distinction. Seconds and Thirds. > > Best, > > Jacob > > ps - sorry for not having citations available, I can supply them later if > anyone's interested. and i won't claim the last word, especially when my > kids need to be wrangled to another room. >
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