Peirce’s Neglected Views on the Importance of the Individual for the Advancement of Civilization

Abstract

Peirce is well-known for his claim that man is a sign and, therefore, essentially general. He also taught that the individual person is of little account except as a member of a social group. Yet in Peirce’s metaphysics it is the individual that brings the general into existence just as in human affairs it is the sheriff who provides the dynamic power necessary for the rule of civic law. Not with standing his frequent admonition that individual glory must give way to communal achievement, throughout his life Peirce was fascinated with the phenomenon of individual greatness. Through his studies of great men he concluded that special individuals, with their unique capacities and powers, account for much that we count as human progress and that an exaggerated regard for morality is detrimental to scientific progress. The aim of this paper is to consider Peirce’s somewhat neglected views on the importance of individuals as distinct from whatever communities they may be a part of and to reflect on the implications for Peirce’s theory of personhood.