The INSTITUTE FOR STUDIES IN PRAGMATICISM (www.pragmaticism.net)

is the first and oldest organized center for research on the life and works of CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE (1839-1914),

the American Physicist, Mathematician, Logician, and Engineer, one of the greatest interdisciplinary scientists in history.

About

Founded during the 1971-72 academic year at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas by Charles S. Hardwick and Kenneth L. Ketner, the mission of the Charles Sanders Peirce Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism is to facilitate study of the life and works of Peirce and his continuing influence within interdisciplinary science.

prag-mat-i-cism - the philosophic doctrine of C. S. Peirce
prag-mat-i-cist - an advocate of pragmaticism

Follow the links to jump to more information below about the Institute:

Research and Study Resources and Links:

Major Collections of the Institute

Due to ongoing server upgrades, the web-based databases are currently unavailable. Please contact usdirectly if we can be of assistance during this transition time. Databases will be linked from this page as they become available. Click here to query the TTU Library online database for titles in the Institute Collection. Note: To refine the query, append the default search terms with additional keywords.

The F. Gentry Harris Collection includes 300 volumes of materials by, on and closely related to Peirce, 3000 volumes of research on psychiatry (including military), psychology, mathematics, logic, natural science and natural history; and several complete but unpublished papers on Peirce-related topics.

Published works of F. Gentry Harris include Experiences in the Study of Combat in the Korean Theater available from the US Army Military History Institute .

Additional information on F. Gentry Harris may be found in: Pilgrim in the ruins: a life of Walker Percy by Jay Tolson, and Genius, an article by Pamela Taylor Bloom in Vistas: Texas Tech Research, Winter 2001 Volume 9 No. 1

The Institute Archive Collection includes over 3500 works useful for interdisciplinary research on the life and works of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), the American Physicist, Mathematician, Logician, and Engineer, one of the greatest interdisciplinary scientists in history. Highlights of this collection include an annotated copy of Peirce's Century Dictionary definitions, a large number of doctoral dissertations and other specialized studies on Peirce, many specific editions of titles that were familiar to Peirce, books owned by Peirce featuring his own annotations, books written by his father and brother, some letters of Herbert Peirce, a Peirce family genealogy, and a number of period books which illuminate the context of Peirce's life and times.

The Zournas Gift consists of approximately ten thousand books from the reference libraries of the pre-1948 Theatre Arts magazine, the pre-1987 Theatre Arts Books library, the working library of Robert Mercer MacGregor, and the personal library of George Zournas. The Gift is especially strong in the area of the performing arts: ballet and modern dance are especially well represented. In addition, there are hundreds of books on the fine and decorative arts, English and American literature, and Asian philosophy. Included are numerous books that have become classics in the field of travel and exploration, as well as hundreds of beautifully illustrated books on Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Hindu, and Muslim art and architecture. There are also scores of copiously illustrated sales catalogues from the two great American auction houses, Christie’s and Southeby’s, and dozens of magazines concerned with the arts of Asia.

Click here for Recent Institute Collection Additions

Collections

Academic Programs

The Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism offers courses on methods and logical problems associated with interdisciplinary endeavors in science. The only prerequisite is approval of the instructor. Students in any branch of Texas Tech University or Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center are eligible to enroll. It also participates in the Interdisciplinary Master's degree program with an emphasis on Peirce Studies.

Undergraduate Course: PRAG 4000. Independent Research in Peirce Studies (V1-6). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Directed study of selected interdisciplinary problems in Peirce Studies. May be repeated for credit. See the Texas Tech University website for more information.

Graduate Course: PRAG 5000. Independent Research in Peirce Studies (V1-6). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Directed interdisciplinary inquiry in Peirce studies. May be repeated for credit. See the Texas Tech Graduate School website for more information.

Master of Arts or Master of Science

in Interdisciplinary Studies

The Master of Arts or Master of Science degree program in Interdisciplinary Studies is intended for mature students who wish to continue education at the graduate level but do not seek specialized training concentrated in a major area. This program is not a substitute for the traditional master's degree; rather, it is designed for students with broader interests in several fields or for those whose career goals do not match fully with a single identifiable academic unit or department. Peirce Studies is an available emphasis under this degree program. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), a true American genius, made major contributions to logic, mathematics, language studies, history of science, specific areas of science such as chemistry and physics, and philosophy, among others. Currently, his ideas are being explored in fields as diverse as semeiotic and artificial intelligence. Students enrolled in Peirce studies will normally take 6 to 9 hours of PRAG 5000 and at least 30 additional hours in several defined areas, depending upon each student's future educational or occupational goals. For further information on academic programs, contact the Director, Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism, Box 40002, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-0002, or call (806)742-3128.

AcademicPrograms

Institute Publications and Resources

The Published Works of Charles Sanders Peirce, digital 3rd edition with

A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Published Works of Charles Sanders Peirce

with a Bibliography of Secondary Studies, 1st and 2nd edition

Kenneth Laine Ketner

published by

The Charles S. Peirce Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism

Texas Tech University

A digital comprehensive bibliography of the published works of Charles Sanders Peirce. Go HERE for instructions on how to use and access the bibliography.

A Triadic Theory of Elementary Particle Interactions and Quantum Computation

Ralph G. Beil and Kenneth Ketner

published by

The Charles S. Peirce Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism

Texas Tech University

This monograph summarizes an attempt to demonstrate that there are direct applications of Peirce's Logic of Relations, in particular, the Sign Relations, to the theory of elementary particles and their interactions. Further, the Peircean logic leads to new ideas on the construction of computers which function at the quantum level. Click HERE to learn more or purchase.

US Patent 6819474 - Quantum Switches and Circuits

Peirce / Beil / Ketner

Two Texas Tech investigators (Kenneth Laine Ketner and Ralph G. Beil) have received a patent for a new concept for computer logic switches that could revolutionize computing in the 21st century.

View the patent (PDF)
View the patent marketing abstract (2012)
Read the press release and more about the patent HERE.

Publications

The Institute's Research and Study Resources and Links about Charles Sanders Peirce

Institute Publicity

Find out more about the Institute's purpose, mission, and activities,

including the recent acquisition of the Gentry Harris Collection,

in the Winter 2001 Vistas article (pp 42-47) here HERE .

MoreLinks

Publicity

Institute Staff, Assistants, Scholars, and Members

Dr. Kenneth Ketner

Director
Paul Whitfield Horn Professor
Charles Sanders Peirce Interdisciplinary Professor

Dr. Ketner's education includes MA (Philosophy) Oklahoma State University, MA (Folklore and Mythology) University of California at Los Angeles, and PhD (Philosophy) University of California at Santa Barbara. He has produced a number of reference works and essays on Peirce, including Reasoning and the Logic of Things (Harvard University Press, 1992), an edition of Peirce's 1898 Cambridge Conferences Lectures. A collection of his correspondence with Walker Percy was published by the University Press of Mississippi (1995) as A Thief of Peirce: The Letters of Kenneth Laine Ketner and Walker Percy. With the aid of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, he wrote the first volume of his life of Peirce, published in 1998 by Vanderbilt University Press as His Glassy Essence: An Autobiography of Charles Sanders Peirce. He is a Fellow (past president) of the Peirce Society. He was instrumental in organizing the 1976 (Amsterdam) and 1989 (Harvard) international Peirce congresses. He can be reached at kenneth.ketner@ttu.edu.

Dr. Clyde Hendrick

Associate Director
Paul Whitfield Horn Professor, Psychology

Dr. Hendrick obtained his PhD in social psychology from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1967. During his career, he has written or edited twelve books, and has served as a co-editor with Susan S. Hendrick for seventeen volumes in the Sage Series on Close Relationships. He has also published over 150 journal articles and reviews. He served as Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami from 1977 to 1984, and assumed the role of Dean of the Graduate School at Texas Tech University in 1984. He served in that post until 1995, when he returned to regular faculty duties. In addition to his research interests in psychology, he has a strong interest in philosophy, especially the writings of Charles Peirce, which he sees as highly relevant to psychology and the social sciences. He can be reached at clyde.hendrick@ttu.edu.

Scott Cunningham

Assistant Director for Operations

Scott is the Assistant Director for Operations. He has been with the Institute since 1999. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Psychology at Texas Tech. His research interests are in the areas of Phenomenology, Educational Philosophy, and Inquiry And Learning Theory. Scott may be reached at scott.cunningham@ttu.edu

Levi Johnson

Webmaster, Hardwick Fellow

Levi Johnson obtained a BA (2009) and MS (2012) in mathematics from Texas Tech University and is now pursuing a PhD. In 2012, he received one of two Hardwick Fellowships awarded by the Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism. Johnson has been an active member of the Institute's Interdisciplinary Seminar on Peirce since its inception in 2011. He also has interests in the use of C.S. Peirce's Existential Graphs and technology in math pedagogy.

Patrick Tinsley

Hardwick Fellow

Patrick Tinsley is a Ph.D candidate and current Hardwick fellow at the Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism. Tinsley is currently writing his dissertation at the Instituite in pursuit of his doctoral degree in Land Use Planning, Management and Design with a research focus in Architecture: Historic Preservation. Tinsley's previous degrees include a B.S. in Mass Communications: Film, a B.S. in Biology,( both from West Texas A & M), and an M.S. In Interdisciplinary Studies: Peirce Studies, here at Texas Tech. In addition he has completed a graduate certificate in Historic Preservation and two doctoral minors in Heritage Management and Museum Science. He is a former Elo and Olga Urbanovsky fellow, and is completing his degree by writing his dissertation on the application of Pragmaticistic philosophy to historic preservation theory.

Student Assistants

Jason Rhode

Jason is a second-year Master's student of philosophy at Texas Tech University, and received his BA in philosophy in 2006 from the same institution. His primary areas of interest are axiology (ethics and aesthetics) and the history of philosophy. He previously worked as a reporter and critic for the The Lawton Constitution, and appeared on an April 2011 episode of the quiz show Jeopardy. His non-philosophical writing has been published by McSweeney's, The Comics Journal, Eyeshot, and Metaphilm. His hobbies include Shakespeare, the works and life of Alan Moore, history, Roman society, drawing, exercise, and public speaking.

Rachel Poole

Rachel is a junior studying studio art with an emphasis in painting. Her hobbies include tennis, writing and watching movies.

Research Members

Dr. Karey Perkins
Dr. Rhonda McDonnell

Former Student Assistants

Jerome Larez
Emily Keys
Zachary Ballenger
Ashlee Dickerson
Melissa Gross
Elizabeth Jimenez
Angela Krauss
Zac Morris
Katie Ratliff
Sarah Robertson

Visiting Scholars

Dr. Elize Bisanz
Dr. Carolyn Eisele
Dr. Max Fisch
Dr. Menno Hulswit
Dr. Philip Meguire
Dr. Lisa Palafox, ABD
Dr. David Pfeifer
Dr. Diane Joy Smith
Dr. Patricia Turrisi
Dr. Bruce Wilshire

Staff

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Pragmaticism?
Who was Charles Peirce?
Where can I find more information about Charles Peirce?
What is truth?
What does the Institute do?
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How can I visit the Institute?
What are your operating hours?
What materials are available at the Institute?
What Academic Programs do you offer?
Does the Institute accept gifts?
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For answers to these frequently asked questions, feel free to contact us.

Benjamin Peirce, Junior (1809-1880)

Father of Charles S. Peirce

Give in Support of the Institute

The Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism, in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of the oldest interdisciplinary research departments of Texas Tech University. Its archive and office suite are in a 3000 square foot section of the University Library Building. Its mission is to support study of the life and works of C. S. Peirce and his continuing influence in all university disciplines. Local, national, and international scholars have been supported, often while they are resident from their home location. The Institute is located on the third floor East, Main Library Building, room 305.

Updated Online Giving Process

Thank you for your interest in supporting the work of the Institute! Due to recent changes to the Texas Tech University online donation management system, the process has changed slightly. Please carefully review the following instructions to ensure that your online donation is applied to your intended fund. If you would prefer to make a contribution through another payment method, contact information has been provided at the bottom of the page.

1. Visit donate.give2tech.com.

2. Click on "Search for a specific fund"

3. Enter one of the three endowment names from the list below.

4. Follow on-screen prompts to complete your online donation.

Institute Endowments

Claude Ventry Bridges Memorial Endowment
The Claude Ventry Bridges Memorial Fund is named in honor of an early, distinguished graduate student in the Institute. This fund has supported Institute publications, visiting scholars, and other students. Click HERE to donate.

Charles Sidney Hardwick, Ph.D. Memorial For Peirce Studies Endowment
The Charles Sidney Hardwick, Ph.D. Memorial Endowment for Peirce Studies supports students and scholars using the Institute archival resources. Click HERE to donate.

The Charles Sanders Peirce Interdisciplinary Professorship Endowment
The Charles Sanders Peirce Interdisciplinary Professorship Endowment, established by the Texas Tech University Board of Regents in 1979, has promoted international studies for students and scholars through research and teaching by means of colloquia, seminars, lectures and publications. The job description of this professorship also includes the Institute Directorship. Click HERE to donate.

Contact Information:

Institute for Studies In Pragmaticism
Box 40002
Lubbock, TX
79409-0002

Phone: (806) 742-3128
Fax: (806) 742-3172

Email: pragmaticism@ttu.edu

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