Peirce's Idea of Science
Abstract:
Although drawn from the historical fact of modern science, Peirce's concept of science is unusual, radical, and difficult: he defined it not by its alleged method—scientific discovery is also of methods—but by its 'spirit', viz., of restless dissatisfaction with what already is known. Endless inquiry replaces the classical ideal of a body of knowledge in which inquiry comes to rest. This modifies how "The Fixation of Belief" is to be understood. The advent of modern science created a new kind of person, the specialist researcher, with novel ambitions, pleasures, and values, and a new kind of community, of diverse specialists. It entailed a linear view of history and it required a faith in the future like that which Christianity had introduced to Europe. This concept of science is fundamental to Peirce's philosophy, but that theme is not here developed.
