Peirce is a surname that may refer to:
- Benjamin Peirce (1809–1880), American mathematician, author of an article on rejection of data outliers Peirce's Criterion, and father of Charles Sanders Peirce
- Bill Peirce (born 1938), economist, Professor Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, and 2006 Ohio gubernatorial candidate
- Charles Sanders Peirce (C.S. Peirce) (1839–1914), American logician, mathematician, scientist, philosopher, founder of pragmatism
- Cyrus Peirce (1790–1860), American educator, Unitarian minister, and the founding president of the first American public normal school
- Gareth Peirce (born c. 1940), British solicitor, known for taking on controversial and human rights cases
- Hayford Peirce (born 1942), American writer of science fiction, mysteries, and spy thrillers
- Joseph Peirce (1748–1812), U.S. Representative from New Hampshire
- Juliette Peirce (died 1934), second wife of the mathematician and philosopher Charles Peirce
- Henry A. Peirce (Henry Augustus Peirce) (1808–1885) of Massachusetts. U.S. Minister to Hawaiian Islands, 1869–77. Hawaiian Minister of Foreign Affairs, March-July 1878, under King Kalakaua
- Kimberly Peirce (born 1967), American film director
- Leslie P. Peirce, American historian
- Lincoln Peirce, American cartoonist known for the comic strip Big Nate
- Penney L. Peirce, (born 1949), American pioneer in intuition development, author of books on spirituality and expanded perception
- Robert B. F. Peirce (1843–1898) U.S. Representative from Indiana
- Victor Peirce (Victor George Peirce) (1958–2002), infamous Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria
- Waldo Peirce (1884–1970), American painter, born in Bangor, Maine
Read more about Peirce: Educational Institutions, Other
Famous quotes containing the word peirce:
“A true proposition is a proposition belief which would never lead to such disappointment so long as the proposition is not understood otherwise than it was intended.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)
“The essence of belief is the establishment of a habit; and different beliefs are distinguished by the different modes of action to which they give rise.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)
“It has often been argued that absolute scepticism is self-contradictory; but this is a mistake: and even if it were not so, it would be no argument against the absolute sceptic, inasmuch as he does not admit that no contradictory propositions are true. Indeed, it would be impossible to move such a man, for his scepticism consists in considering every argument and never deciding upon its validity; he would, therefore, act in this way in reference to the arguments brought against him.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)