A Summary of Charles S Pierce's 'How to make our Ideas Clear' D Rashila Fernando

SUMMARY: HOW TO MAKE OUR IDEAS CLEAR

Charles S Pierce

Context: Charles S Pierce was known as the father of Pragmatism. Here I summarize his article How to Make our Ideas Clear 

The passage begins by recalling the difference between clear and obscure conceptions, distinct and confused conceptions which the author assures has remained unchanged over the years. A clear idea is defined as a justified true belief that is unmistakably appreciated. An absence of this property would define an obscure conception. A distinct idea would be defined as a conception that lacks the absence of clearness or clarity. Descartes explored the ideas discussed by comparing the idea of a stone which possesses properties such as that of temperature (warm and cold) with the concept of God, who he found to be both distinct and clear. Although Descartes lacks precision in defining such concepts, it is evident that he attempts to regard a 'clear and distinct' idea as one which contains both clarity and coherence, thereby 'impressing itself on the mind'. Keeping this in mind, Descartes would therefore classify the concepts of numbers, time periods, and space as clear and distinct ideas; Clear and distinct ideas enabled Descartes to arrive at a conclusion that he can be certain of.

The text stresses on the need for logic to guide us to make clear ideas which I think is vital as logic is the process of reasoning according to strict principles of validity. We are also given an insight to the concepts of doubt and belief which remind me of a quote by Andre Gide "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." The author relates two examples to highlight the fact that the evolution of thoughts over a time period (be it hours, days or even years) lead to belief; that is the irritation of paying a fee with five coppers or a nickel. The illustration of the hesitation described could be termed as Doubt and the result or decision as Belief and help us achieve a better understanding of the concepts in question. We are also informed about the distinction between the two elements of consciousness with the example of musical notes which I find to be rather helpful in making sense of what we are immediately conscious of and are mediately conscious of. For example, music is comprised of notes and the air. While a single tone may be extended for a certain period of time and may last long unlike with relation to air, we understand that it might be present to a sense that whatever we hear is completely absent from its past and will not be found in the future (which is the very definition of immediate consciousness). Moreover it is imperative we also comprehend the difference between sensations, that are ever-present while they last, and thoughts, which are comprised of an inception, middle, and an end as they constantly stream through our minds. Using the analogies discussed, we are then introduced to the concept of belief.

Belief, according to Charles S. Pierce, consists of three properties: Not only are we aware that we have attained it and does it possess the ability to pacify our impatience associated with doubt, but belief also results in or leads to the cultivation of habits. In my view, this concept seems to follow a somewhat circular pattern. That is to say, the motive of thinking would be the irritation of doubt which leads one to relax their thoughts as one arrives at a particular belief. However as belief is considered to be a habitual process, which requires in depth thought about something, it finds it way back to another thought. Thus it is, in my view, a cyclical process. Furthermore, it is important we understand that "different beliefs are established by the different modes of action to which they give rise to" in the words of Charles S Pierce. Pierce also discusses the definitions of a path (the displacement from point A to point B) and velocity to explore the concept of a force which can either be defined as something that 'is an acceleration' or 'causes an acceleration.' Thus Pierce is opening our minds to the concept of fallacy that lies entirely in the propriety of language. Another concept introduced towards the end of the chapter is that of reality which is a discipline concerned primarily with Logic. We are given an illustration that Descartes put forth concerning dreams: In simple terms, Descartes questions reality when he remarks that although dreams may seem very real, they are in fact not the right way to tell that we are dreaming. And because we can never be certain that we are dreaming while we are dreaming, and we can't be certain that we are not dreaming when we are 'not dreaming', sense experience cannot be a reliable source of knowledge.