“The Fixation of Belief”
Philosophy 1
Spring, 2002
G. J. Mattey
Charles Sanders Peirce
• Born 1839
• From Cambridge, MA
• Greatest American
philosopher
• Accomplished
scientist
• Had no permanent
university job
• Died 1914
Peirce’s Contributions
• Pioneer in development of symbolic logic
• Founder of semiotic, the investigation of
signs
• Made practical consequences the test of the
meaningfulness of statements, including
those of science and metaphysics
• Defined truth as the beliefs of the
community of science in the long run
Logic
• For the medievals, logic was deduction
from what is given by authority
• Later it was seen that logic must begin with
experience
• The way in which we learn from experience
has been refined as science progresses
• Ultimately, Darwin used statistical methods
where causes were unknown
Reasoning
• A valid chain of reasoning yields a true conclusion
given true premises
• It is not affected by how people actually reason
• Ordinary reasoning is overly optimistic, and we
are often frustrated, though we do not learn from
this
• Natural selection may favor logicality in practical
matters but illogicality in impractical matters
Guiding Principles
• We draw the conclusions we do in our reasoning
on the basis of habit
• Good habit yields valid reasoning
• A “guiding principle” of inference is the
formulation of habits of reasoning
• A true principle is one yielding validity
• True guiding principles are especially useful
where there are no established methods
• Example: what is true of one piece of copper is
true of another
Logic and Common Sense
• In investigating logic, we take for granted
that there is a transition from doubt to belief
• The most essential principles would be
those implied by the idea of the process
• We mix the products of logical reflection
with those of ordinary thought
• The assignment of qualities to things is the
result of logical reflection, not observation
Doubt and Belief
• We manifest doubt when we ask a question
and belief when we make a pronouncement
• Doubt and belief feel different
• Beliefs guide our desires and shape our
actions, while doubts do not have this effect
• Doubt is uneasy and restless, while we are
satisfied in belief, clinging tenaciously to it
Inquiry
• The irritation of doubt leads to a struggle to
find satisfaction in belief
• This struggle is called “inquiry”
• We reject beliefs in favor of doubt when
they are inadequate in producing results
• This creates a new struggle
• The end of the struggle is at best a belief
that we think to be true, not true belief
Consequences for Reasoning
• It impossible to stimulate doubt artificially,
in the manner of Descartes
• Reasoning begins from premises that are in
fact doubted, not what is indubitable (e.g.,
general first principles or sensations)
• It is pointless to argue in favor of something
that is already believed
The Method of Tenacity
• One way to attain the satisfaction of belief is to
avoid all occasions for doubt
• Another is to cling tenaciously to the beliefs one
already has
• Immoveable faith gives great peace of mind,
which might be greater than the inconvenience it
might cause
• To call this irrational is only to point out that a
tenacious believer achieves his ends differently
The Method of Authority
• The method of tenacity has practical shortcomings
• It is opposed by the social impulse—the fixation
of belief takes place at the level of the community
• But the community can enforce beliefs
• This is how theological and religious doctrines
have been upheld historically
• It leads to cruel suppression
The Limits of Authority
• Authority is superior to individual tenacity
• It has greater concrete successes
• This may be the best method for the great
masses of human beings
• But some people recognize the diversity of
beliefs across cultures
• Doubts arise because they have no reason to
think their culture’s authority is superior
The A Priori Method
• To overcome the arbitrariness of authority, people
try to discover indisputable facts
• This is found most clearly in mathematics
• But what is “agreeable to reason” is only what we
find most inclined to believe
• There is a lot of disagreement about what is
“agreeable to reason”
• Still, some beliefs that do not rest on facts are
almost universal (e.g., people only act selfishly)
True Induction
• The a priori method is subject to the whims
of changing fashion, and there is never any
permanent agreement
• In this way, it is essentially like authority
• What fixes our belief should be something
upon which our thinking has no effect
• It should be a permanent touchstone of
belief for every person
The Method of Science
• The fundamental hypotheses of the method
of science are these:
– There are real things whose characters are
independent of what we think about them
– Although our sensations vary, we can regiment
them through laws of perception
– This gives rise to true belief about real things
Skepticism
• The scientific method cannot be used to prove its
assumption of real things
• There are three replies:
– The method does not collapse through its own practice,
as do the others
– Everyone admits to this hypothesis, else there would be
no reason to believe at all
– People use the method ordinarily and fail to use it only
when they do not know how
– Scientific method has done well in settling opinion
Advantages
• The scientific method establishes a distinction
between right and wrong belief
• Application of the method is the test of it
• The other methods have their advantages
– The a priori method gives comfortable beliefs
– Authority is the path of peace
– Tenacity is strong, simple and direct
• But there is no reason to think that belief
corresponds with fact as a result of using them
The Morality of Belief
• We should adopt the scientific method, though it
means giving up security
• The integrity of belief is more wholesome than
any particular belief one might give up
• To admit that there is truth but to shrink from the
best way to find it is a sorry state of mind
• One who has made the choice will hold it most
worthy, despite the discomfort it causes