Jeff, List: JD: At the beginning of the post, you note that Peirce engaged in "mathematical, phenomenological, semeiotic, and metaphysical" inquiries concerning time. Do you have any suggestions about how we might tease out the different threads? Each seems to involve somewhat different methods.
I agree that each involves different methods, and I have made several attempts (so far unsuccessful) to start writing a paper (or two) with the goal of teasing out those different threads. Peirce himself seems to think that we can "harmonize" them (his word) by recognizing the *continuity *of time; in fact, our direct *perception* of the continuous flow of time in *phenomenology *is what prompts our retroductive *hypothesis *of a true continuum in *mathematics*, which we then explicate deductively and evaluate inductively in other sciences. CSP: One opinion which has been put forward and which seems, at any rate, to be tenable and to harmonize with the modern logico-mathematical conceptions, is that our image of the flow of events receives, in a strictly continuous time, strictly continual accessions on the side of the future, while fading in a gradual manner on the side of the past, and that thus the absolutely immediate present is gradually transformed by an immediately given change into a continuum of the reality of which we are thus assured. The argument is that in this way, and apparently in this way only, our having the idea of a true continuum can be accounted for. (CP 8.123n; c. 1902) Logic then provides a plausible explanation for the so-called "arrow of time." Peirce initially wrote the following in one of his notebooks. CSP: 1. A *time *is a determination of actuality independent of the identity of individuals, and related to other times as stated below. According to the present proposition we may speak of the state of different things at the same time as well as of the states of the same thing at different times and, of course, of different things at different times and of the same thing at the same time. 2. At different times a proposition concerning the same things may be true and false; just as a predicate may at any one time be true and false of different things. Time is therefore a determination of existents. (NEM 2:611; c. 1904-5) A few years later, he offered a correction on the opposite page, which is otherwise blank. CSP: I can hardly now see how time can be called a determination of *actuality*. It is certainly a law. It is simply a unidimensional continuum of sorts of states of things and that these have an antitypy is shown by the fact that a sort of state of things and a different one cannot both be *at the same time*. And in consequence of this antitypy a state of things varies in one way and cannot turn round to vary the other way. Or to state it better a variation between state A and state B is limited to occurrence in one direction, just as the form of a body in space is limited to one or other of two perverse positions in space. (NEM 2:611; 1908 Aug 13) Peirce here maintains the *mathematical *characterization of time as "a unidimensional continuum," but describes its parts as "sorts of states of things" and affirms the *phenomenological *fact that time flows in only one direction. Turning to *metaphysics*, one thing that occurred to me just this week is that these different threads at least loosely correspond to the three main theories about time in the current philosophical literature. 1. Eternalism - past, present, and future all exist. 2. Presentism - only the present exists. 3. Growing Block - only the past and present exist. If we substitute *reality *for *existence*, these correspond respectively to Peirce's mathematical, phenomenological, and logical/semeiotic conceptions of time--a one-dimensional continuous whole, isomorphic to a line figure (cf. CP 1.273; 1902); an indefinite moment that involves memory, confrontation, and anticipation (cf. CP 7.653; 1903); and an ongoing process by which the indeterminate becomes determinate (cf. CP 5.459, EP 2:357-358; 1905). I have come to believe that #3 is closest to his overall view and can incorporate the insights of the other two. It is unfortunate that there is not a more formal name for it; one recent dissertation suggests "accretivism," but I doubt that this will catch on. My tentative name for Peirce's version of it is *temporal synechism*. It seems noteworthy that the basic idea of the "growing block" is that reality itself is getting "larger," which is reminiscent of a passage in Kelly A. Parker's book, *The Continuity of Peirce's Thought*. KAP: The dynamical object in each successive representation in the process [of semeiosis] is necessarily different from that of its predecessor. The dynamical object of the first representation is the real universe at that time, and the immediate object is an abstraction consisting of some aspects of this reality. The next representation, however, cannot have exactly the same dynamical object. The real universe is at that point populated by at least one additional entity--the first representamen itself. Every successive representation in the semeiotic process thus has as its dynamical object not just the universe which the first representamen represented, but that universe plus the first representamen itself. (p. 148) The object that determines the sign is different from the object that determines the interpretant, because the interpretant's object includes the sign itself. Likewise, the past that determines the present is different from the past that determines the future, because the future's past includes the present itself. Moreover, the object affects the sign and interpretant, but not vice-versa; and likewise, the past affects the present and future, but not vice-versa. As ongoing and continuous processes, both semeiosis and time are irreversible because they conform to Gary R.'s vector of *determination *(2ns→1ns→3ns, object→sign→interpretant, past→present→future); and once the universe as a vast quasi-mind becomes *more *determinate, it cannot become *less *determinate again. This leads us to the passage that you quoted in your second post. CSP: [1] I may mention that my chief avocation in the last ten years has been to develop my cosmology. This theory is that the evolution of the world is *hyperbolic*, that is, proceeds from one state of things in the infinite past, to a different state of things in the infinite future. [2] The state of things in the infinite past is chaos, tohu bohu, the nothingness of which consists in the total absence of regularity. The state of things in the infinite future is death, the nothingness of which consists in the complete triumph of law and absence of all spontaneity. [3] Between these, we have on *our *side a state of things in which there is some absolute spontaneity counter to all law, and some degree of conformity to law, which is constantly on the increase owing to the growth of *habit* ... [4] As to the part of time on the further side of eternity which leads back from the infinite future to the infinite past, it evidently proceeds by contraries. (CP 8.317; 1891) The *cosmological* basis for the "arrow of time" is Gary R.'s vector of *process *(1ns→3ns→2ns). The universe is evolving from an absolutely *indeterminate *state of things at the hypothetical instant corresponding to "the *commencement *of all time" (NEM 3:1075; c. 1905), when everything would have been in the *future*, toward an absolutely *determinate *state of things at the hypothetical instant corresponding to "the *completion *of all time" (ibid), when everything would be in the *past*. As I said at the end of my initial post, what is always realized in the *present *is an indefinitely gradual state of change, and this terminology conveniently lends itself to another categorial analysis--the present is an *indefinitely *gradual state of change in its 1ns, an indefinitely gradual state of *change *in its 2ns, and an indefinitely *gradual *(i.e., continuous) state of change in its 3ns. Returning to mathematics, in a List post <https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/arc/peirce-l/2019-09/msg00055.html> last September I proposed five properties that are jointly necessary and sufficient for a true Peircean continuum. (Incidentally, I am pleased to report that my essay based on that and several related List discussions, "Peirce's Topical Continuum: A 'Thicker' Theory," has been accepted for publication in *Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society*.) The first was *regularity*, which I now prefer to call *rationality*--every portion conforms to one general law or Idea, which is the final cause by which the ontologically prior whole calls out its parts (cf. CP 7.535; 1899 and CP 7.535n6; 1908). I now suggest that time is a *real *Peircean continuum, and that an indefinitely gradual state of change is the one general law or Idea to which every lapse of it conforms; i.e., every moment when it is *present*. Since this has gotten quite lengthy, I will try to take up your specific questions in a later post. Regards, Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA Professional Engineer, Amateur Philosopher, Lutheran Layman www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt - twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 1:56 AM Jeffrey Brian Downard < [email protected]> wrote: > Jon, List, > > Consider what Peirce says about his cosmological conception of time in a > letter to Christine Ladd-Franklin. For the sake of clarity, I'll separate > and number the points he makes. > > 1. I may mention that my chief avocation in the last ten years has been > to develop my cosmology. This theory is that the evolution of the world > is *hyperbolic,* that is, proceeds from one state of things in the > infinite past, to a different state of things in the infinite future. > > 2. The state of things in the infinite past is chaos, tohu bohu, the > nothingness of which consists in the total absence of regularity. The state > of things in the infinite future is death, the nothingness of which > consists in the complete triumph of law and absence of all spontaneity. > > 3. Between these, we have on *our *side a state of things in which > there is some absolute spontaneity counter to all law, and some degree of > conformity to law, which is constantly on the increase owing to the growth > of *habit.* > > 4. As to the part of time on the *further* side of eternity which leads > back from the infinite future to the infinite past, it evidently proceeds > by contraries. 8.316 > > Focusing on the points made in 3 and 4, how might we understand the > contrast being made between *our* side of things, and the part of time > that is on the *further* side of eternity? > > A helpful approach, I think, is to start with a mathematical diagram. What > kind of diagram might we use to clarify the hyperbolic evolution from the > infinite past to the infinite future? Using this diagram, what is the > contrast between our side of things and the further side of eternity? > > --Jeff > Jeffrey Downard > Associate Professor > Department of Philosophy > Northern Arizona University > (o) 928 523-8354 > ------------------------------ > *From:* Jeffrey Brian Downard > *Sent:* Wednesday, March 4, 2020 11:37:06 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [PEIRCE-L] The Reality of Time > > Hello Jon, List, > > At the beginning of the post, you note that Peirce engaged in "mathematical, > phenomenological, semeiotic, and metaphysical" inquiries concerning time. > Do you have any suggestions about how we might tease out the different > threads? Each seems to involve somewhat different methods. > > --Jeff > Jeffrey Downard > Associate Professor > Department of Philosophy > Northern Arizona University > (o) 928 523-8354 >
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