C.S. Peirce's Abduction from the Prior Analytics

William Paul Haas

Abstract

Charles S. Peirce was one of the most accomplished American philosophers, especially in logic. He advanced the idea that there are three interconnected functions of reasoning, - deduction which is analytic and leads to certainty - induction which is synthetic and leads to probability and abduction which is hypothetical and leads to possibility. He used his theory of abduction and pragmatism to demonstrate that Aristotle, whom Peirce read in Greek, had possibly discovered the need for abductive reasoning in his work, The Prior Analytics . Thus he used abduction to demonstrate abduction in Aritstotle, a neat philosophical stunt!