Re: [Fis] A definition of Information

At 11:26 AM 2004/03/16, S�ren Brier wrote:
>Dear Stan
>
>The problem I am raising is that according to Peirce pure feeling as
>Firstness is there from the beginning and as such internally in matter
>and energy - and so is the law of mind. But you seem to build up the
>hierarchy in a fairly physicalistic way.

With all due respect, S�ren, this is a controversial issue in Peirce
scholarship. The consensus on Peirce-L is that Firstness is a mode
of being, but that it cannot exist on its own, since existence arises
only with Secondness. After that, various people tend to disagree
about the roles of the two. Peirce's few remarks on Hegel, with whom
he agrees in some respects, and distances himself in others, probably
need to be investigated closely to get any further than two alternative
views that Firstness is both ontologically and logically prior to Secondness,
or that it is not ontologically prior. Peirce's texts seem to support both
interpretations, according to the discussions on Peirce-L. As I understand
Stan, he would accept the logical primacy of Firstness, as being required
by Secondness, but not its ontological primacy as being able to exist
without Secondness. The "law of mind", it seems to me to apply to logical
primacy (the possibilities) and not ontological primacy (existence). So I think
that Stan's interpretation is consistent with what we currently know about the
interpretation of Peirce. It seems to me that the coming of mind into existence
could occur much later than the primal being of its possibilities (laws, if
you want).

John

John

I've found the link between apes and civilised men - it's us.
                        -- Konrad Lorenz
John Collier collierj@ukzn.ac.za
Philosophy, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041 South Africa
T: +27 (31) 260 3248 / 260 2292 F: +27 (31) 260 3031
http://www.kli.ac.at/research.html?personal/collier
http://www.nu.ac.za/undphil/collier/index.html

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Received on Tue Mar 16 13:23:05 2004