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American Pragmatism

Peirce and Sartre on Consciousness and the Ego

David Boersema describes how two very different thinkers were on the trail of similar ideas about the nature of consciousness.

Charles Peirce (1839-1914) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) were two towering figures in philosophy who wrestled with issues of consciousness and the ego, or self. These are matters that have long concerned philosophers and cross the lines of different philosophical traditions. What is it to be conscious? What is the nature of the self? Both Peirce, as a pragmatist, and Sartre, as a phenomenologist, addressed these questions early in their philosophical careers, suggesting that they were fundamental for their subsequent concerns. Moreover, these issues were and are at the core of both pragmatism and phenomenology. Further exploration of them can shed light on these two schools of thought and serve as a means of bridge-building between them.

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