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What is one's conception of the practical consequences that result by necessity from a case where the "conception" of practical consequences that result by necessity from the truth of a conception constitutes an infinite process, that is, from a case where the conceptual process of generating these consequences is capable of exceeding any finite bound that one can conceive?
 
What is one's conception of the practical consequences that result by necessity from a case where the "conception" of practical consequences that result by necessity from the truth of a conception constitutes an infinite process, that is, from a case where the conceptual process of generating these consequences is capable of exceeding any finite bound that one can conceive?
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<pre>
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It is may be helpful to append at this point a few additional comments that Peirce made with respect to the concept of reality in general.
It is may be helpful to append at this point a few additional comments
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that Peirce made with respect to the concept of reality in general.
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| And what do we mean by the real?  It is a conception
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{| align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="90%"
| which we must first have had when we discovered that
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| there was an unreal, an illusion;  that is,  when we
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| first corrected ourselves.  Now the distinction for
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| which alone this fact logically called, was between
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| an 'ens' relative to private inward determinations,
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| to the negations belonging to idiosyncrasy, and
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| an 'ens' such as would stand in the long run.
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| The real, then, is that which, sooner or later,
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| information and reasoning would finally result
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| in, and which is therefore independent of the
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| vagaries of me and you.  Thus, the very origin
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| of the conception of reality shows that this
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| conception essentially involves the notion
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| of a COMMUNITY, without definite limits, and
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| capable of a definite increase of knowledge.
   
|
 
|
| (Peirce, CP 5.311, 1868).
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<p>And what do we mean by the real?  It is a conception which we must first have had when we discovered that there was an unreal, an illusion;  that is,  when we first corrected ourselves.  Now the distinction for which alone this fact logically called, was between an ''ens'' relative to private inward determinations, to the negations belonging to idiosyncrasy, and an ''ens'' such as would stand in the long run.  The real, then, is that which, sooner or later, information and reasoning would finally result in, and which is therefore independent of the vagaries of me and you.  Thus, the very origin of the conception of reality shows that this conception essentially involves the notion of a COMMUNITY, without definite limits, and capable of a definite increase of knowledge.</p>
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|-
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| align="right" | (Peirce, CP 5.311, 1868).
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|}
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| The real is that which is not whatever we
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{| align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="90%"
| happen to think it, but is unaffected by
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| what we may think of it.
   
|
 
|
|(Peirce, CE 2:467, 1871).
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<p>The real is that which is not whatever we happen to think it, but is unaffected by what we may think of it.</p>
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|-
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| align="right" | (Peirce, CE 2:467, 1871).
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|}
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| Thus we may define the real as that whose characters
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| are independent of what anybody may think them to be.
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{| align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="90%"
 
|
 
|
|(Peirce, CP 5.405, 1878).
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<p>Thus we may define the real as that whose characters are independent of what anybody may think them to be.</p>
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|-
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| align="right" | (Peirce, CP 5.405, 1878).
 +
|}
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Having read these exhibits into evidence, if not yet to the
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Having read these exhibits into evidence, if not yet to the point of self-evidence, and considered them to some degree for the individual lights they throw on the subject, let me now examine the relationships that can be found among them.
point of self-evidence, and considered them to some degree
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for the individual lights they throw on the subject, let me
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now examine the relationships that can be found among them.
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These excerpts are significant not only for what they say, but for how
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These excerpts are significant not only for what they say, but for how they say it.  What they say, their matter, is crucial to the whole course the present inquiry.  How they say it, their manner, is itself the matter of numerous further discussions, a few of which, carried out by Peirce himself, are already included in the sample presented.
they say it.  What they say, their matter, is crucial to the whole course
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the present inquiry.  How they say it, their manner, is itself the matter
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of numerous further discussions, a few of which, carried out by Peirce
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himself, are already included in the sample presented.
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Depending on the reader's POV, this sequence of excerpts can appear to
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Depending on the reader's POV, this sequence of excerpts can appear to reflect anything from a radical change and a serious correction of the underlying POV to a mere clarification and a natural development of it, all maintaining the very same spirit as the original expression of it. Whatever the case, let these three groups of excerpts be recognized as forming three successive ''levels of reflection'' (LORs) on the series of POVs in question, regardless of whether one sees them as disconnected, as ostensibly related, or else as inherently the very same POV in spirit.
reflect anything from a radical change and a serious correction of the
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underlying POV to a mere clarification and a natural development of it,
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all maintaining the very same spirit as the original expression of it.
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Whatever the case, let these three groups of excerpts be recognized as
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forming three successive "levels of reflection" (LOR's) on the series of
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POV's in question, regardless of whether one sees them as disconnected,
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as ostensibly related, or else as inherently the very same POV in spirit.
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From my own POV, that strives to share this spirit in some measure,
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From my own POV, that strives to share this spirit in some measure, it appears that the whole variety of statements, no matter what their dates of original composition, initial publication, or subsequent revision, only serve to illustrate different LOR's on what is essentially and practically a single and coherent POV, one that can be drawn on as a unified frame of reference and henceforward referred to as the ''pragmatic'' POV or as just plain ''pragmatism''.
it appears that the whole variety of statements, no matter what their
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dates of original composition, initial publication, or subsequent revision,
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only serve to illustrate different LOR's on what is essentially and practically
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a single and coherent POV, one that can be drawn on as a unified frame of reference
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and henceforward referred to as the "pragmatic" POV or as just plain "pragmatism".
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There is a case to be made for the ultimate inseparability of all of the issues
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There is a case to be made for the ultimate inseparability of all of the issues that are brought up in the foregoing sample of excerpts, but an interval of time and a tide of text are likely to come and go before there can be any sense of an end to the period of questioning, before all of the issues that these texts betide can begin to be settled, before there can be a due measure of conviction on what they charge inquiry with, and before the repercussions of the whole sequence of reflections they lead into can be brought to a point of closure.  If one accepts the idea that all of these excerpts are expressions of one and the same POV, but considered at different points of development, as enunciated, as reviewed, and as revised over an interval of many years, then they can be taken to illustrate the diverse kinds of changes that occur in the formulation, the development, and the clarification of a continuing POV.
that are brought up in the foregoing sample of excerpts, but an interval of time
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and a tide of text are likely to come and go before there can be any sense of an
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end to the period of questioning, before all of the issues that these texts betide
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can begin to be settled, before there can be a due measure of conviction on what
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they charge inquiry with, and before the repercussions of the whole sequence of
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reflections they lead into can be brought to a point of closure.  If one accepts
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the idea that all of these excerpts are expressions of one and the same POV, but
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considered at different points of development, as enunciated, as reviewed, and
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as revised over an interval of many years, then they can be taken to illustrate
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the diverse kinds of changes that occur in the formulation, the development,
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and the clarification of a continuing POV.
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</pre>
      
==Document History==
 
==Document History==
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