Peirce's Approach to the Self

Reviews / Votes

"A new and, in some ways, daring interpretation of an aspect of Peirce's thought. Colapietro's view may be found controversial, but he supports it extremely well with reference to unpublished manuscripts as well as more familiar texts. His knowledge of Peirce is impressive and I find his arguments persuasive. He treads his way through the voluminous Peirceian corpus in a masterly way. He sets into relief elements of Peirce's thought that others have not recognized or have even denied, especially his understanding and appreciation of inner reflection and imagination, which Colapietro shows to be compatible with Peirce's rejection of subjectivism and his insistence upon the social nature of the self. As interpreted here, the Peirceian alternative to the Cartesian view of the self, making communication rather than subjectivity the essence of out being and our identity, is convincing and provocative." ? Beth J. Singer, Brooklyn College, CUNY