Date: 	Tue, 17 Jan 1995 23:47:30 +0200 (EET)
From: Kaarlo Juhana Stedt <jstedt-AT-utu.fi>
Subject: phaneroscopy


A long, long time ago Malgosia asked me to explain "phaneroscopy". If you 
are still interested, here comes a short description.

The basic and fundamental goal of Peirce's philosophical project is to 
achieve true representation of reality. This goal is to be fulfilled by 
using the scientific method.

Peirce is realist, in other words he thinks that there is a reality that 
is independent of us, our beliefs and actions and his whole philosophy is 
grounded on mathematics. The reason for this is that mathematical 
inference is non-ideological. In this respect it differs from the use of 
the results of the scientific activity. Mathematics concerns only 
hypotethical states and because of this it has nothing to do with the 
"real world". Mathematical inferences are a priori. Peirce's point is 
that if we conduct our inquiry so that it conforms with the mathematical 
inferences, we don't have to fear that the resulting representation of 
reality is distorted. The main thing here is that mathematics has nothing 
to do with practical life, which is the ground that gives rise to 
empiria, and mathematics can not be empirical science. In practical life 
we can test our theories and hypotheses and in this respect Peirce is a 
hard empirist.

Because the propositions of mathematics concern only hypotethical states, 
it is possible that mathematical inferences are necessary. By necessary 
he means that there is no possibility for error. But by saying that 
inference can be necessary he does not mean that it is infallible. So, 
because mathematics is the only science that can be necessary, all 
reasoning must rely upon it.

In the hierarchy of the philosophical sciences there is one science that 
depends only on mathematics and it is called phaneroscopy. The sole 
function of this science is to find out the fundamental categories of 
reality. It is irrelevant to the pahneroscopist whether the appearances 
that he contemplates are real, fictional, imagined, conceived as possible 
or whatever. In this sense the scope of phaneroscopy is everything that 
can be found in experience or in imagination and moreover everything that 
is (has been/will be) possible or impossible. Because Peirce's primary 
categories are derived from this realm, he can say that the scope of his 
philosophical system is everything that is in any way present to the 
mind. And the laws of the phaneron are applicable to every possible world.

Categories are general and universal abstract concepts that function 
together as a complete system; every object of thought or experience 
belongs to one or another of the categories. If we have a set of 
categories, then we have a system of classification which has a place for 
everything we can experience or think about. Categories have also to be 
doubly universal. This means that they must be available to anyone 
capable of forming judgements about experience. Because these categories 
are supposed to reveal the components of the reality they must be 
constructed a priori.

Reformulating Kant's inadequate theory of categories Peirce was able to 
determine three different kinds of arguments in propositions (1. x gives 
y to z, 2. x kills y, and 3. x is red). By this examination of the 
relations in logic he derived all the possible forms of relations in a 
given proposition. In other words he defined all the possible relations 
that can exist in the phaneron. These relations, empty forms, are 
grounded on mathematical principles and they are a priori.

If Peirce can find a sign system with which everything can be expressed 
he has found universal principles for the relations that are possible for 
everything there is. And when he has found these relations he can proceed 
to to examine the sign-systems that are capable of expressing everything. 
Peirce claims that these kinds of sign-systems can contain only monadic, 
dyadic and triadic predicates. There are then three fundamental predicate 
expressions that phaneroscopy has revealed. These are his universal 
categories Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness.

In other words Peirce's phaneroscopy or categoriology is a study  of 
relations on the phaneron and analoguously Deleuze's cinema philosophy, 
or taxonomy, is, in my opinion, a study of possible relations in the 
realm of the cinema. I am arguing that in his study Deleuze shows that 
Cinema or audiovisuality is an adequate sign system to express actual, 
virtual and possible aspects of the phaneron (or the plane of immanence).

I am truly sorry about the lenght and incoherence of my "explanation" but 
these faults have to do with MEMORY (short) and TIME (lack of it) so I 
hope I am forgiven,

Juhana


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