The Philosophical Relevance of Peirce's Historical Studies

The chapter explores the different uses of history that emerge from Peirce’s writings and asks to what extent history, from a Peircean perspective, is relevant to philosophy. It starts by looking at the emergence of Peirce’s interest in history as part and parcel of his polymathic profile. It goes on to analyze history’s role in the development of Peirce’s evolutionary account of the human mind. Finally, it explores the relationship between history and logic. Peirce was interested both in exploring history’s bearing on the investigation of logical questions and in employing his logical theories to elaborate a methodology of historical inquiry.