By what method am I holding this belief?

In "The Fixation of Belief", Peirce distinguishes four ways of settling doubt: tenacity (I cling to what I already believe), authority (I believe it because I was told to), the a priori method (I believe it because it seems agreeable to reason, to my taste), and the method of science (I believe it because it answers to public facts that could correct it). This rule does not hand you instant certainty: it makes you notice how you actually hold a belief, and invites you to move it toward the last method, the only one that answers to communal checking and stays open to revision.