"Memorial maxims" is a phrase borrowed from Charles Sanders Peirce who I take to be one of the three philosophical precursors of Triadic Philosophy.

The other two are Friedrich Nietzsche and Ludwig Wittgenstein. As I explained yesterday, none of these amazing trailblazers can be blamed for my creation of a simple daily discipline based on insights I derived from reading them.

There is little new in Triadic Philosophy save its presumption that the world is ready to take a step toward saving itself.

Universal words

Memorial maxims are Charles Sanders Peirce’s words for a universal mental process that takes place in all languages and in all minds.

If I ask you to state something you live by, you may pause and ask what I mean. One way or another you will tell me something you believe, a phrase or saying or maxim.

Even if this exploration is not fruitful, imagine that you are rudely bumped on the street we are walking on. In the aftermath, after you have narrowly avoided coming to blows, you mutter, “I don’t take anything from anyone.”

From memory, a maxim has sprung. A memorial maxim is a bit of furniture in the mind that is remembered, perhaps from a parent or a teacher or a book. You can list such phrases easily.

Action engine

Peirce goes far with his idea of memorial maxims. He believes they are the literal engine of actions and expressions.

They are the origin of the end point of the method he came to call pragmaticism. This method depended on a practical result. Our minds contain the stuff that infuses our deeds.

This means it makes a difference what influences us. Our models are Important.

And most of all, we can derive massive inner power by the furnishing of our mind with the words, literally, that dictate what we say and do.

Freedom

We can derive from this that we possess a measure of freedom. We can choose whether our mind tends toward unselfishness and caring for others or in the direction of dividing things and practicing ganging up and exclusion.

Freedom is essentially the capacity to choose the values which will influence what we say and how we act. Triadic Philosophy is based on the proven truth that people can quite literally change instantly. This applies to the whole person, mind, and body. If we want to move from a world based on exclusion and harm we can do so by rejecting these values and substituting a range of values that lead toward freedom and love. Fundamental are self-respect and helpfulness.

These words are literally the keys to reality for us. What our immediate reality is a product of our choices. Regardless of conditions, this freedom exists. It is sovereign. The individual is in command.