-
Birth
Charles Sanders Peirce was born in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA on Sept. 10th 1839. He was the son of Sarah Hunt Mills and Benjamin Peirce. His father Benjamin Peirce was a professor of astronomy and mathematics at Harvard University. -
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Peirce suffered from his late-teens onward from a nervous condition then known as "facial neuralgia", which would today be diagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia. His biographer, Joseph Brent, says that when in the throes of its pain "he was, at first, almost stupefied, and then aloof, cold, depressed, extremely suspicious, impatient of the slightest crossing, and subject to violent outbursts of temper". Brent, Joseph (1998). Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life (2 ed.). Indiana University Press. p. 18 -
Period: to
Employment
Between 1859 and 1891, Peirce was intermittently employed in various scientific capacities by the United States Coast Survey and its successor, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. That employment exempted Peirce from having to take part in the American Civil War. At the Survey, he worked in refining the use of pendulums to determine small local variations in the Earth's gravity. During that time, Pierce visited Europe 5 times and visited with British mathematicians -
Ahead of His Time - Mathematics
Fascinatingly, Peirce was far ahead of his time with regards to mathematical foundings. In 1860 he suggested a cardinal arithmetic for infinite numbers. In 1880 he showed how Boolean algebra could be done via binary operations, AKA what the basis of computers are based on. In 1886 he further saw that Boolean calculations could be carried by electrical switches, the physical basis of computers. Peirce, C. S. (1886). "Letter, Peirce to A. Marquand". Writings of Charles S. Pierce. pp. 5:541–43. -
College Education
Charles went on to earn an Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree from Harvard. In 1863 the Lawrence Scientific School awarded him a Bachelor of Science degree. -
Peirce's Pragmatism
Pragmatism began in the early 1870's between talks among Peirce, William James, and others in the Metaphysical Club. Peirce actually wanted o distance himself from pragmatism and used a new term called Pragmaticism for his philosophy in 1905. He did this to distance himself from the literary journals that had been using pragmatism in their works. Peirce's pragmatism is in his view, not itself a whole philosophy but instead a general method for the clarification of ideas. -
Peirce's Pragmatism - A Truly American Philosophy
I thought that Pragmatism is explained quite accurately as a truly American philosophy in this historical video, looking at the historic creation and meaning of Pragmatism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqPAnFfPJuk -
Period: to
Poverty
Due to living beyond their means, the Peirces had accrued many debts. He spent much of his last two decades unable to afford heat in winter and subsisting on old bread donated by the local baker. An outstanding warrant for assault and unpaid debts led to his being a fugitive for a while. His family and neighbors settled his debts and paid his property taxes. Brent, Joseph (1998). Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life (2 ed.). Indiana University Press. p. 191. -
Death
Peirce died destitute in Milford, Pennsylvania, twenty years before his widow. Juliette Peirce held onto his urn until her death. Upon her death in 1934, Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot arranged for their burial on Milford Cemetery. After his death, Harvard obtained from Juliette Peirce the papers found in his study. Peirce had left approximately 1650 unpublished manuscripts, totaling over 100,000 pages. Joseph Ransdell (1997), "Some Leading Ideas of Peirce's Semiotic", 19:157–78.