The Fixation of Belief

work by Peirce

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June 26, 2026

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Charles Sanders Peirce's "The Fixation of Belief" explores how individuals arrive at and maintain their beliefs. Peirce identifies four methods for this fixation: the method of tenacity (stubbornly holding onto existing beliefs), the method of authority (accepting beliefs dictated by an authority), the a priori method (relying on reason and logic, but potentially leading to subjective conclusions), and the scientific method.12

The scientific method, Peirce argues, is the most reliable because it is self-correcting and aims for objective truth. Beliefs, in this view, are habits of action, and the scientific method clarifies ideas by examining their observable, practical consequences. This approach helps resolve doubt and leads to stable, true beliefs.13

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pragmatism
The Metaphysical Club
…version of Peirce’s now-classic paper “The Fixation of Belief” (1877) seems to have been presented at the club. James published a paper in 1878, “Spencer’s Definition of Mind as Correspondence,” in which his pragmatism and analysis of thought and belief are clearly discernible, and two decades later, he introduced pragmatism…
Read More
…version of Peirce’s now-classic paper “The Fixation of Belief” (1877) seems to have been presented at the club. James published a paper in 1878, “Spencer’s Definition of Mind as Correspondence,” in which his pragmatism and analysis of thought and belief are clearly discernible, and two decades later, he introduced pragmatism…
Read More