Introduction to Diagrams, Visual Models, and Abduction

Abstract

C.S. Peirce’s thesis that all reasoning is fundamentally diagrammatic lies at the core of his approach to logic, conceived as represented through the three levels of his Existential Graphs (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma). In Peirce’s work, however, is ubiquitously present a more general notion of diagram, which is closely related to the concept of abduction, although the connection of the latter with classical logical systems is not obvious. The six chapters comprising this section present a holistic approach to the notion of diagrams and diagrammatic reasoning, with some of the chapters having a defined formal mathematical flavor, and others approaching those issues from an epistemological perspective. The richness and variety of the approaches presented in the section will highlight the deep connections between diagrams, visual models, and abduction.