Dissertation Abstract
The Slow Percolation Of Forms:
Charles Peirce's Writings On Plato
by
David L. O'Hara
Click here for open access to the dissertation itself at Penn State
Degree: Ph.D.
Year: 2005
Pages: 281
Institution: The Pennsylvania State University;
0176
Advisors: Douglas R. Anderson, Daniel Conway
Committee: Anderson, Conway, Shannon Sullivan, Sanford Schwartz
Source: DAI, 66, no. 10A (2005): p. 3674
Standard
No: ISBN: 0-542-35970-7
This
dissertation examines Charles S. Peirce's writings on Plato. Peirce's lifelong
reading of Plato, and especially of Plato's late dialogues in the 1890s, was
influential in the development of Peirce's Pragmatism. Peirce claimed that
Plato misunderstood himself and was, late in his career, developing an
evolutionary, three-level metaphysics and logic that anticipated Peirce's Pragmaticism.
The first half of the dissertation
deals with Peirce and the history of philosophy. Chapters address the case for
this study, Peirce's method of studying the history of philosophy and his use
of intellectual autobiography, and Peirce's encounter with Platonism in America. A
running theme throughout the dissertation is Peirce's engagement with mysticism
and American Transcendentalism, and especially with Emerson, Thoreau, and Henry
James, Sr. Also discussed here is Peirce's reception of stylometric analyses of
the Platonic dialogues through Wincenty Lutoslawski's Origin and Growth of Plato's
Logic . The section on stylometrics also briefly discusses Lewis Campbell and
contemporary views on stylometrics in Brandwood, Thesleff, and Nails.
The second half of the dissertation
examines Peirce's writings on particular Platonic dialogues and the
consequences of those writings for Peirce's Pragmaticism. Chapters cover the
development of Peirce's metaphysics, his ethics of inquiry, etymology and the
ethics of terminology, and miracles and their relation to scientific and
historical research. The chapter on miracles also examines the role Plato
played in Peirce's response to Hume on miracles.
Individual chapters address Peirce's
writings on Plato's Cratylus
and Theaetetus. The Apology, Parmenides ,
and Sophist are also discussed. Especial attention is paid to Peirce's
unpublished manuscripts, as well as to his entries on "Platonic" and
"Socratic" in the Century Dictionary, his own account of his debt to
Aristotle, his intellectual autobiographies, and his manuscripts entitled "Metaphysical
Axioms and Syllogisms," "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of
God," "Philosophy and the Conduct of Life," "On the Logic
of Drawing History from Ancient Documents," and "The Law of Mind."
Appendices include transcripts of
Peirce's unpublished partial translations of Plato's Cratylus; a transcript of
an unpublished letter from Peirce to Lady Welby on the Theaetetus; and a
catalog of references to Plato in Peirce's manuscripts.
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: PHILOSOPHY
RELIGION,
PHILOSOPHY OF
Accession
No: AAI3193220
Provider: OCLC
Database: Dissertations