charles sanders peirce

The Fixation of Belief

First published 1877
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contents

i
I
Few persons care to study logic, because everybody conceives himself to be proficient enough in the art of reasoning already. But I observe…
ii
II
The object of reasoning is to find out, from the consideration of what we already know, something else which we do not know. Consequently,…
iii
III
We generally know when we wish to ask a question and when we wish to pronounce a judgment, for there is a dissimilarity between the…
iv
IV
The irritation of doubt causes a struggle to attain a state of belief. I shall term this struggle inquiry, though it must be admitted that…
v
V
If the settlement of opinion is the sole object of inquiry, and if belief is of the nature of a habit, why should we not attain the desired…