Stephen, List: A diagram, in Peirce's terminology, is not an image; it is an icon, with indexical and symbolic elements, that embodies the significant relations among the parts of its object. An algebraic equation is a diagram just as much as a geometric figure. According to Peirce, all necessary reasoning is mathematical, and all mathematical reasoning is diagrammatic (cf. CP 5.148). I touched on how ethical reasoning can also be diagrammatic--referencing this very lecture as helpfully summarized by Daniel Campos ( http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/trancharpeirsoc.51.3.338)--in the last installment of my recent series of articles on "The Logic of Ingenuity" ( http://www.structuremag.org/?p=11107).
Regards, Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA Professional Engineer, Amateur Philosopher, Lutheran Layman www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt - twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt On Wed, Sep 27, 2017 at 3:45 PM, Stephen C. Rose <[email protected]> wrote: > I have evolved a sense of things into a daily discipline which contains a > meditative-prayer element and what I call a colloquy. I have described this > in one or another of my writings. Essentially for me, it is important to > raise the concerns of the Lord's Prayer daily and to submit whatever I want > to deal with to Reality (developing a sign) Ethics (index of values) and > Aesthetics (aiming toward truth and beauty in expression and action.) I > mention this to suggest that an image is not essential to the process of > arriving at concrete results from a triadic process. And this is proactive > rather than having something in mind when an occasion arises. That is very > important -- to be able to respond to occasions. But I believe a daily > discipline may have taken place for Peirce in one form or another. His > walks and musings and his clear emphasis on the centrality of memorial > maxims suggest a practice of some sort. Best. S > > amazon.com/author/stephenrose > > On Wed, Sep 27, 2017 at 4:04 PM, Gary Richmond <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Gary F, List, >> >> I haven't been reading ahead in the lecture material initially because I >> hadn't the time, but now as a kind of discipline, misguided as it may turn >> out to be. >> >> I take from the present excerpt that whether in moral or in intellectual >> matters that one has a modicum of control in being able to construct a >> mental diagram which one can act on when at sometime in the future the >> opportunity arises to put that plan/resolution into effect. As Peirce >> writes: >> >> This resolution is of the nature of a plan; or, as one might almost say, >> a *diagram.* It is a mental formula always more or less general. >> >> >> This sort of thing in the moral/social sphere is more or less >> commonplace, I would think. Well, it certainly happens often enough to me. >> For example, I know a particular relative who, knowling my politics, will >> begin saying politically repugnant things just to get my goat it would >> seem. After a couple of times getting embroiled in such nonsense (which >> never goes anywhere of value) I finally determine that I will not allow >> myself to be engaged again in those kinds of fruitless discussion and I do >> not, remaining silent, or excusing myself from the room, etc. This is >> perhaps the simplest example I might offer, while there are many other >> rather more complex and subtle ones I could offer, say, from my years of >> teaching, and the advance plans I divised for dealing with certain >> recalcitrant or disruptive students. >> >> But divising such a general 'diagram' of a more intelletual nature can >> also be readily imagined. Peirce offers the case of his brother who, during >> a meal in the kitchen, saw the curtains go up in flames and went into >> rapid, decisive, and appropriate action, quickly putting out the flames. >> When asked how he pulled this off so adroitly, he told Charles that he had >> rehearsed such a plan in his head should a situation like that ever arise. >> I too have 'rehearsed' certain plans of action which I might take in some >> domestic exigency or another, the simplest (again) being my habit of always >> being aware of the nearest exit in theaters and halls I find myself in. >> >> The point of all this, as Peirce suggests, is that while we have little >> control over the present and none over the past, we do have a modicum of >> control of the future if we have such a general diagram in mind and act on >> it when the occasion arises. >> >> Best, >> >> Gary R >> >> >> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> >> Virus-free. >> www.avast.com >> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link> >> <#m_7051902049015681575_m_-1130672465717506295_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> >> >> [image: Gary Richmond] >> >> *Gary Richmond* >> *Philosophy and Critical Thinking* >> *Communication Studies* >> *LaGuardia College of the City University of New York* >> *718 482-5690 <(718)%20482-5690>* >> >
----------------------------- 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 .
