Peirce´s pragmatic meanings of mind and synechism

Abstract

Synechism is the kind of thought that insists on the idea of the primordial relevance of continuity in Philosophy. In its methodological aspect, synechism points to the need of raising hypotheses involving true continuity. The main reason for that is to avoid hypotheses that this or that is inexplicable, since the synechist claims that the only justification for a hypothesis is that it provides an explanation to phenomena. The aim of the present paper is to explore the methodological aspect of synechism. It is the conception of synechism as a regulative principle of Logic, prescribing the kind of hypothesis to be entertained and examined, that reveals to us the pragmatic meaning of synechism; a meaning that, for Peirce, presents a very close correspondence to the pragmatic meaning of Mind.