On Peirce's "Modes of Being"

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the issue of Peirce's concept 'real possibility' in his arguments on "Modes of Being". He requested this concept in order to overcome the difficulty of the infinite regress of cognition in his early paper. Consequently, contrasted with the 'mere logical possibility' that consists in our ignorance, the real possibility must be defined as connoting some inherent tendency to actuality. In addition to this, this concept is regarded as including not only the natural laws but also the habit that is equivalent to the meaning of a concept and the ultimate logical interpretant of a sign. Thus we see the real possibility is supposed to sustain the continuity between subject and object.