Re: The Unmet Challenge of Peirce’s Work

Kirsti & All,

The lock : key : door analogy is a fruitful one,
and its three-part structure naturally appeals
to my Peircean side.

In my meditations on the analogy over the interval,
while occupied primarily with many other questions,
it spontaneously transformed itself in this manner:

The "door" became a phase transition between two states
of a physical system.  In one phase a cloudy suspension:
many images came to mind: (1) a thundercloud in the sky,
(2) a beaker holding a liquid and a mineral in solution,
(3) a solution of a colloidal nature in its "sol" state.
The next phase would then be: (1) a cloud precipitating,
(2) a beaker, a clear liquid, and a crystal precipitate,
(3) a solution of a colloidal nature in its "gel" state.

The "key" will be whatever works to catalyze the change:
a seed crystal or a spark of energy jumping a threshold.

The "lock" must be whatever works to inhibit the change:
here the echo of Peirce reminds me of blocks to inquiry.

Regards,

Jon

JA = Jon Awbrey
KM = Kirsti Määttänen

JA: http://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2012/06/15/the-unmet-challenge-of-peirces-work/
JA: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.science.philosophy.peirce/8237
KM: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.science.philosophy.peirce/8238
JA: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.science.philosophy.peirce/8239
KM: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.science.philosophy.peirce/8240

KM: New thoughts are not what I am after. Key thoughts are. --
     The idea of a key lies in that it will open a certain
     closed and locked door, both now and in the future.
     Of course the lock may get changed, or we may even
     try the key with a wrong door, having lost our way
     in supposedly familiar surroundings.  Still, the
     meaning of a key lies in the future.

KM: To all my understanding, you have taken up key thoughts and
     key passages from Peirce's work during these few years I've
     been with the list after a considerable break.

KM: You wrote:
JA: every reader will likely take away a different reading
     from all the most tantalizing passages in Peirce's work

KM: Well, I for my part, think that this applies to most passages.
     To some degree, to all.

KM: You also wrote:
JA: trying to anticipate every possible interpretation
     leads to a state of hermeneutic paralysis.

KM: Fully agree! -- I've been there, in my own way. --
     You then wrote:

JA: I might try loosening up my readings a little bit,
     and simply say what I personally get out of them.

KM: Actually, I think you have already done quite a bit that way.
     I have noticed a difference in your posts lately, compared to
     those earlier on. -- Nowadays I have a feeling of understanding.
     Earlier, years back, I was always left wtih puzzlement, even after
     a discussion. -- I also thought you were after the wrong doors.

KM: For what it's worth, now I think you have the right keys and the right doors.

-- 

academia: http://independent.academia.edu/JonAwbrey
my word press blog: http://inquiryintoinquiry.com/
inquiry list: http://stderr.org/pipermail/inquiry/
mwb: http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Jon_Awbrey
oeiswiki: http://www.oeis.org/wiki/User:Jon_Awbrey
facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JonnyCache