Christopher Hookway presents a series of essays on the philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1913), the 'founder of pragmatism' and one of the most important and original American philosophers. Hookway explores Peirce's writings on truth, science, and the nature of meaning, and demonstrates how Peirce's ideas can contribute to and inform philosophical understanding in debates that continue today. The essays explore the framework of Peirce's thought, hiscontributions to the pragmatist understanding of truth and reality, and 'the pragmatic maxim', a rule for clarifying the contents of concepts and ideas. As well as studying and evaluating Peirce's views, The Pragmatic Maxim discusses the relations between the views of Peirce and other pragmatist philosophers such as William James, CI Lewis, and Richard Rorty.