One of the methods of fixing belief Peirce rejects in “The Fixation of Belief” is the method of authority. According to this method, we rid ourselves of the discomforts of doubt and gain the comforts of belief by agreeing to submit or conform to the dictates of some popular authority, and we use groupthink, patriotism or violence to squash any challenges against this authority. Peirce argues that this method is better than the method of tenacity but not as good as the scientific method. Answer one or both of these questions. (1) Why does he think this is better than the method of tenacity? (2) Why does he think it is worse than the scientific method?

2
In Medieval Japan, the Samurai class was so far above the peasant class that Samurai were permitted to use peasants for sword practice. For instance, the Samurai had strength competitions to see who could chop a peasant in half with a single sword stroke. They had sword accuracy competitions to see who could lop off the most peasant arms and legs in a certain amount of time. Samurai could go out individually and kill or maim as many peasants as they liked just for practice. Was this morally acceptable because it was accepted by their culture, or was this morally wrong because it violated the human rights of peasants or the Golden Rule or some other objective moral principle?