Twenty-second Selection, pp. 300­324.

MS 517. [First published in New Elements of Mathematics 4:235­263.]

Origin of the Text

Some time in 1904 Peirce set out to write a book on the foundations of mathematics, as appears from several related manuscripts variously titled "Dichotomic Mathematics" (MSS 4­5) or "Foundations of Mathematics" (MSS 7­11). Their content reveals a tight connection with MS 517, which is a lengthy "Preface" (the document's subtitle) to a book that intended to revisit the epistemic grounds of mathematics, following a rigorous, a la Euclid, methodology. As it turns out, "Kaina Stoicheia" complements and supplements the third section of the "Syllabus," "Sundry Logical Conceptions" (selection 20), very effectively.