Full Idea
We may suppose that the laws of nature are results of an evolutionary process. ...But this evolution must proceed according to some principle: and this principle will itself be of the nature of a law.
Gist of Idea
Our laws of nature may be the result of evolution
Source
Charles Sanders Peirce (Reasoning and the Logic of Things [1898], VII)
Book Reference
Peirce,Charles Sanders: 'Reasoning and the Logic of Things', ed/tr. Ketner,K.L. [Harvard 1992], p.240
A Reaction
Maybe I've missed something, but this seems a rather startling idea that doesn't figure much in modern discussions of laws of nature. Lee Smolin's account of evolving universes comes to mind.