Abstract

In the 1903 lecture “What Makes a Reasoning Sound?” Charles Peirce provides a detailed account of the process of ethical deliberation intended to shape right conduct. He does this in the context of arguing against the claim that there is no distinction between moral right and wrong. He considered the argument for this claim to be analogous to the argument for the claim that there is no distinction between good and bad reasoning.1 Though Peirce’s ultimate concern in the lecture is to show that there is a distinction between good and bad reasoning, his discussion of the distinction between moral right and wrong is important in itself for what it reveals about his views on ethics. For the purposes of...