The Fixation Of Belief by Charles Sanders Peirce
An analysis of how people settle what they believe, contrasting four approaches—tenacity (stubbornly clinging to belief), authority (enforced or handed-down belief), the a priori or common-sense method (relying on intuition or taste), and the scientific method—and arguing that only the scientific method reliably fixes belief because it subjects ideas to external tests, communal criticism, and experimental consequences. It explains how genuine doubt motivates inquiry, how beliefs function as habits that guide action, and why fallibilism and public verification make scientific inquiry superior to methods that produce merely comforting or socially enforced certainty. The essay highlights the psychological and social effects of each method and defends the scientific ideal of corrigible, objective belief grounded in observable consequences.
- Published
- 1877
- Nationality
- American
- Length
- Unknown
- Pages
- Unknown
- Original Language
- English
- Avg User Rating
-
(3.0)
- Alternate Titles
- None
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