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Who really said it

Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object

Written by Charles Sanders Peirce 1839–1914 · American philosopher and logician
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Peirce wrote this formulation in How to Make Our Ideas Clear, published in Popular Science Monthly in January 1878. It is the pragmatic maxim.

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object” Charles Sanders Peirce — How to Make Our Ideas Clear (1878)

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Provenance

The source

Work
How to Make Our Ideas Clear
Publication
1878
Location
Illustrations of the Logic of Science, second paper, section II.

Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object.

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How we verified this

  • How to Make Our Ideas Clear ↗ The fetched original essay reproduces both sentences together in section II; Wikiquote identifies the same passage and publication.
  • Wikiquote’s sourced entry ↗ The entry identifies the pragmatic maxim in the January 1878 installment of Illustrations of the Logic of Science.
Public domain

This original English passage appears in a work published before 1931 and is public domain in the United States.

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Context

Why it mattered

Peirce proposes testing the meaning of a conception through the practical effects one could conceive it having. The passage is an account of intellectual clarity, rather than a simple instruction to favor whatever happens to be useful.

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Knowledge Wisdom Simplicity

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How to Make Our Ideas Clearen.wikisource.org

The fetched original essay reproduces both sentences together in section II; Wikiquote identifies the same passage and publication.
Wikiquote’s sourced entryen.wikiquote.org

The entry identifies the pragmatic maxim in the January 1878 installment of Illustrations of the Logic of Science.

The author

About Charles Sanders Peirce

Charles Sanders Peirce

1839–1914 · American philosopher and logician

Charles Sanders Peirce was a philosopher, logician and scientist. His essays developed the approach to meaning and inquiry associated with pragmatism.

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The primary source (Chicago)

Charles Sanders Peirce. How to Make Our Ideas Clear. 1878. Illustrations of the Logic of Science, second paper, section II.. Consulted via the linked source.

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/consider-what-effects-which-might-conceivably-have/

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