This work investigates whether an objective phenomenological vocabulary can be constructed through the application of formal logic to the study of human consciousness. Richard Kenneth Atkins, a scholar specializing in Peircean philosophy, examines the intersection of logic and experience to determine if disparate sensory inputs can be categorized and compared with scientific rigor. He argues that Peirce provides a viable framework for describing the qualitative similarities and differences among diverse experiences, challenging the skepticism of philosophers like Locke and Nagel.

Scholars and students of American pragmatism identify this text as a rigorous examination of Peirce's often-overlooked contributions to phenomenology. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which requires a foundational understanding of formal logic to fully grasp the author's arguments.