Charles Peirce's "The Doctrine of Necessity Examined"

Extract

[...] Peirce about this issue is that he is not of the belief that there is any person who can ascertain that the precise, universal compliance of facts to natural law is proved evidently, or depicted particularly possible, by any observations made so far. He noted that those in support of the doctrine of exact regularity used hypotheses other than proven experimental result of facts to support their arguments. He, therefore, dismissed this notion as it shows high levels of poor reasoning. Charles affirms that, sometimes people cannot help to believe a given proposition. [...]

[...] The word has many meanings depending with the context of usage. Those who support this notion are usually unable to tell what exactly they mean when they claim chance is inconceivable. The author also claims that should they say what they mean, it would easily be found that their reason is insufficient or that they are in a state of being unable to conceive. This, therefore, does not prove that chance does not exist. Finally, Charles examined the argument that claims chance is not clearly understood or expressed. [...]

[...] As a result, Charles confirms that, the things that are not conceivable today will turn out to be indisputable in future. This is supported by the countercultural philosophy of Emerson whereby he lobbied to create a structure of a form of life that will go past the status quo expectations and thinking models. This was in favour of deeply independent and creative manifestations of universal truths. This, he argued, will also help solve the problem of inability to conceive by stating, “Every man has a form of mind peculiar to himself.” The author confirms that the principles of mechanics are indeed natural beliefs, which have been confirmed by experience. [...]

[...] Peirce in Doctrine of Necessity Examined”. Necessitarianism or Determinism is a principle that refuses all simple possibility, and affirms that there is exactly a single way in which the world can be. Determinism refers to the philosophical theory which states that all man's capability of conscious choice, decision, and intention is invariably determined by circumstances that circumstances that existed before (Maher). This theory is in opposition of the philosophical system of free will or discretion. Charles S. Peirce wonders whether we necessarily have to see or notice signal effects of some element that may have happened by pure chance so that to ascertain that real chance exists. [...]

[...] His theory, therefore, supports the inexistence of chance, for it holds that man pays for his own mistakes against the nature. Although Charles S. Peirce claims that the people who support this doctrine are unable give a full account or explanation of all events that happen, it does not mean that there are no laws that bring about these events. That is why people study science and conduct research and experiments to find out the hidden or the undiscovered laws of nature. [...]