SOURCE: "Peirce's Defence of the Scientific Method," in Journal of the History of Philosophy, Vol. XIII, No. 4, October, 1975, pp. 481-90.

In the following essay, Struhl examines Peirce's "The Fixation of Belief" as a pragmatic approach to discussing religious faith.

Peirce's classic essay "The Fixation of Belief has received considerable critical attention. In spite of the numerous discussions of this essay, scholars continue to fall prey to certain unfortunate and important misinterpretations of Peirce's position here. A proper understanding of the argument contained in this essay concerning the adoption of the scientific method is extremely important for all further Peirce scholarship, and the errors made in interpreting Peirce's argument are indicative of the kinds of misinterpretations that are offered of his later work in Pragmaticism. These misinterpretations often have their roots in the failure to understand Peirce's rejection of Descartes' epistemology in general and of his methodological doubt in...