Re: Doctrine Of Individuals

Peircers,

Here's one gloss on what Peirce meant by the term "division" --

CSP: The moment, then, that we pass from nothing and the vacuity of being to
      any content or sphere, we come at once to a composite content and sphere.
      In fact, extension and comprehension — like space and time — are quantities
      which are not composed of ultimate elements; but every part however small is
      divisible.

CSP: The consequence of this fact is that when we wish to enumerate the sphere of a term —
      a process termed division — or when we wish to run over the content of a term —
      a process called definition — since we cannot take the elements of our enumeration
      singly but must take them in groups, there is danger that we shall take some element
      twice over, or that we shall omit some. Hence the extension and comprehension which we
      know will be somewhat indeterminate. But we must distinguish two kinds of these quantities.
      If we were to subtilize we might make other distinctions but I shall be content with two.
      They are the extension and comprehension relatively to our actual knowledge, and what these
      would be were our knowledge perfect.

CSP: Logicians have hitherto left the doctrine of extension and comprehension in a very imperfect
      state owing to the blinding influence of a psychological treatment of the matter. They have,
      therefore, not made this distinction and have reduced the comprehension of a term to what
      it would be if we had no knowledge of fact at all. I mention this because if you should
      come across the matter I am now discussing in any book, you would find the matter left
      in quite a different state.

CSP: Peirce 1866, Lowell Lecture 7, Chron. Ed. 1, p. 462.

Cf: http://mywikibiz.com/Directory:Jon_Awbrey/Papers/Information_%3D_Comprehension_%C3%97_Extension#Selection_12

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