C. S. Peirce, life and work

a disconcerting parallelism

Abstract

Peirce’s life had a period of ascent, followed by a growing decline to the point that he survived, in his mature age, in the increasingly necessary dependence on the generosity of his friend William James. This article follows the difficulties, tortuosity, and vicissitudes, a true saga for the organization and publication of the 12,000 pages he published in life and the 100,000 pages he left in manuscripts. The expectations of a publication worthy of the value of this work and the difficulties for this accomplishment generate a disconcerting parallelism between the destinies of Peirce’s life and those of his work.