CharlesSandersPeirce(1839-1914)islikelythegreatestphilosophicalthinkerAmericahaseverproduced.HiscontributionstophilosophywouldinspireotherAmericanphilosopherssuchasWilliamJamesandJohnDewey.Peirce’scontributions,however,extendfarbeyondphilosophyproper.Interpretinglogicasthedisciplinethatisdevotedtothequestionofhowoneshouldreason,hesawhimselffirstandforemostasalogician,oneinspiredbythedesiretopenetrateintothelogicofthings.This,morethananything,enabledhimtodoground-breakingworkinagreatvarietyofareas,includingseveralthatwereyettodevelop.Inpartbecauseofthis,PeircehasbeencalledtheAmericanAristotleandtheAmericandaVinci.Itispreciselythisattitudeofwantingtopenetrateintothelogicofthings,andtodevelopthetoolsfordoingso,thatkeepsPeircerelevanttoday.TheOxfordHandbookofCharlesS.Peircebringstogetherthirty-fouroriginalessaysonhiswork,showcasingstate-of-the-artresearchinabroadvarietyofareas.Amongotherthings,theHandbooktouchesuponphenomenology,logic,aesthetics,ethics,semiotics,physics,mathematics--and,ofcourse,thetraditionofpragmatismforwhichPeirceiswellknownasthefounder,andwhichhasenjoyedincreasedattentioninrecentyears.
