Charles Sanders Peirce

This book introduces a number of selected ideas from thework of Charles Sanders Peirce, the founder of pragmatism. Peirce, pronounced'purse', was born in America in 1839 and died in 1914. He published little inhis own lifetime and he continually struggled to become recognised as arespected author with ideas that were highly creative, original and unique. Thebook begins with an examination of Peirce's life history. This is followed byan explanation of pragmatism, which states that an understanding of a conceptcan only be fully grasped by knowing what its practical effects are. The authorthen explains a number of Peirce's ideas that are based on his pragmatic maxim:· scientific inquiry as a method of investigation and itsrelevance to everyday thinking· inferential thinking based on abduction, deduction andinduction and its use in educational research· semiotics, the study of signs and its relevance to thedevelopment of conceptual understanding· his profound and insightful ontological categories ofFirstness, Secondness and   Thirdness and their application to developingan understanding of the world around usThis introductory text is written in a clear andaccessible style. Numerous examples are used throughout the book to illustratePeirce's complex and sophisticated ideas and to show how his thinking can beapplied to education.