1000000030

•

I'ropo/ilion;

Ihe

olh~r,

whcrein Ihe r.1me midcllc lerm is

compmd IVilh lh: fubj cél of Ihc conclulioo, or l,Ber ex·

Ir~me,

is c,t1led Ihe

minor

propoJiliM.

Alllhis i5 ob.

vious fromIhe f)'lIo.iifm alreadt givcn,

wh~re

Ihe con·

dulion is,

IILn

ÍI

am un/abl, fi¡r hi¡ afli•.

H .

For oere

Ihe predime,

acc",r./abl,

(O,

hi¡ afliMl,

being connec·

led IVilh Ihe miJdleterm inIhe hrll

lhe

1100

premirres,

tU(rJ ma/u,.,

p?f:/ld

"afo uaud /ih,,/}

amun/ab/c

jor

hiJ

nf};'nJ,

glves whal \VeColilthe

m.ju

propoji/i>n.

Ihe fecond of Ihe premirres,

M"n

ÍI

cm/Uf(

poj./ld

"afon ar.d /ih,rt},

\\le fiad Ihe lerrer eXlreme, or fub·

jeél of Ihe conclufion,

uiz . TIIan,

conoeéled wilh Ihefame

middle Icrm, whenct: il is

~nown

be the

minor

pr.po

ji/ion.

When a fyllogifm is propofed in due form, Ih e

major propofilion is always placed 6rll, Ihe minor neXI,

and Ihe cooclufion lan.

Thefe Ihings premifed, we mly in the general defioe

nafoning

lo be an

or operalion o(

/h,

mind, dd,,·

ring

flrn, UuRn6'Wn

prop,ji/ion [ra¡n

./h"

pr"viou! olla

Ih.1

a" epidml and

~n(l1Un.

Thefe previnus propofitions,

in a Gmple aél of teafoning, are oo/y

11\10

iooumber; aod

il is always

reqoir~d

Ihal Ihey be of Ihemfeloes apparent

Ihe undedlanding, infomuch Ihat

lOe

arreot

and

perc,ivt Ihe Irulh of Ihem as fooo as propofed. In Ibe

fyllo~ifm

given above, Ihe

premilT~s

are filppofed

felf

e\'id~ol

trutha, olherwife Ihe conclufion (ould not be

inferred by a fingle aél of reafoning.

Ir,

for infiance,

in Ihe major,

tVU}

mo/u"

foffiffid

na/on and li6er/}

j¡

a~counlablt

[or

hÍJ

aOion!,

Ihe cODoeélion betweenIhe

fubjeá and predicate could nOI be perceived by a bate ato

1:nlion to the idm themr.lres; it is evideot, that !his

propofilion would no lef, reqnire a proof thao the con·

clofion deduced fromit. lo this cafe a new middleterm

mull be fought for, to trace tbe conneéllonhere fuppofed;

and rhis of courfe forni!hes ¡nother fyllogifm,

which

Iming.effabli!hed the propofition in

q~efiioo,

IVe are then,

<,nd not before, ar liberty tOufe it in aoy fucceedingtraio

of rcafoning . And !hould it fohappen, that in Ihis fecond

elT~y

thm was fiill

Come

previous propofition whofe

truth did nOIappm at firll 6ghl, we mon then have re·

-courfe to a third fyllogifm iD on!er

lay opcn Ihat trulh

the mind ; becaufe, fo long astbe premirres

rem~in

un·

certain, the concluClon built upon themmufi be fo too.

When by conduéling our thoughts in rhis manner,

\Ve

tall arrive

fome fyllogifm, where rhe previous propo·

fitions are intuilive trulhs ; the mind then rells i" full

Cecu,ity, as perceiving that the fevml conclofiona ir haa

parrcd Ihrough

lI.nd

upon the immoveahle foundalion of

felf·evid~nce,

and when traced tQ Iheir fource

t~rminate

iD jt.

We fee rherefore, rha! in order to infer a conclufion

by a fingle aél of rcafoning, Ihe premilTes mua beinruirive

~ropofitions.

\Vhere they are nOI, previous Cyllogifms

are requircd; in which cafe rea(oning becomel a compli·

cated aél, taking in a variely of

focc~ffive

lIeps. This

frequendy happeos in tracing the more remote

rel~rions

of Ollr idm, where many

middl~

terms

bein~

called io,

the conclnfinocanoot be made OUI,

~ur

io coofequenceof

a feri.. of fyllogifms following one anorher in a traio'.

But allho'lgh in rhis

concmn~lion

or propofitions, thofe

,hal form Ihe prcmin'el of rhe lafi fyllogifm are ofteo

co,lfi1m'1Iy rem,,,!" í:o:n fdf.eriJence;

yet

if we trace

Ihe rcafoning

~d,kIVards,

\VC

!hlll find

Ih~m

the cODclu.

hons of previous fyllngirms, IVhofe prem:rres approach

nearer anrl neMe'

inl~ilinn,

io proponion as we ad .

VJoce, and . re found at 1,111 to lerminm iDit. And if

after having thus unravelled a demonllmion, we take i;

the conrrary \'Iay; and obfervehow the miftd. fClling out

wilh iotuiti"c perceplioos, CCluplel themlogerher ro Corm

a concluhon ; hOIV, by iotrod"cing Ihis cOOcJUfiOD ioto a.

opther fyllogifm, it f1ill advaoces one nep {ar!her ; and

proceeds, m2king every new difcovery Cubfervieot to

jls future progrefs; we !hall then perceive clearly, tbal

mfooing, in the highen

~x:rcife

of thal faculty, is DO

more Ihan an orderly combinarioo of tbofe fimple aa,

which we hare already fo foil explaioed.

Thus we fa, Ihal reafooing.

b~ginning

with firfi prin.

ciples, rifes gradually from one

judgm~nl

to another,

and conncéls

th~m

in fuch a manner, thal every nage of

the progre/lioo brings intuitire ceminty along with ir,

And now at lenglh we may clcarly uoderfiand the defini.

tion given above of rhis difiinguiOling faculty of the hu.

man mind . Reafon is the

~biliry

of deducing unknown

truths from principies or propoGrions that are already

known. This

~videotly

appcars by Ihe foregoing accounl,

whm we fte, that

propófilion is admitted into a

fyllogifm, to Cerve as one of the

pr~"ioús

judgmeDrs

which the cODclufioD rells,

unl~fs

it is ilrdf a known and

efiabJilhcd truth, whoCe cooneélion Wilh fdf. evideot prio–

~iples

has been already traced.

O[ rht

fevual Jind!

rtafonillg; and

jrJ1.[

IDar

'Which 'Wt dtlum;,,,

rh,

gtntra .nd

jpt(Íti

rhingl.

A:tL

the

aim~of

liumao reafoomay be reduced to thefe

two:

l .

To rank things uDder thofe unimCa!

id~as

whichthey truly belong; aod,

To afcribe tothemtheir

feveral attributes aod propwies io confequeoce of thu

dillribution.

One great aim of homan rearon is, to

d~t~rmine

rhe

tenera and rpeci" of rhings. Now, as iDoniverfal pro–

pofitions \Ve allirm fOOle property of a genus or rpecies,

il is pl,in, !hat we cannol apply this propeny to par ti–

cular

obj~as,

till

~'e

have firfi derermioed whether

rh~J

are

compreh~oded

uoder that general idea of which the

property is affirmed. Tht1s

Iher~

are m tain propenie.

belonging to all

IV'"

numbcrs, which oeverrhelefs cao·

not be aprlied to aoy pmicolar number, until we have

firn difcovercd il to be of tbe

fpeci~s

exprerred by rha! ge–

neral.name. Hencereafoning begios wilh refmiog thinS'

their

f~vml

divifions and

c1alT~s

in the fcale of our

jd~as;

aod as

thef~

divifi nns are all diJlingui!hed by pe:

culiar

nam~s,

\Ve hereby learn to apply rhe terOlS ex·

preffing general conceptions tO Cuch particular objeéls a.

come

uod~r

ollr immedim obCwatioo.

Now, in

ord~r

arrive at

th~fe

cooclufions by which

Ihe feveralohjcéls of pcrccption

ar~

Iorou¡;hl

t1nd~r

g,ne–

r~1

names, two rhings are manifenly neccrr"y. r"lt,

thal IVe takea view of

rh~

idea itfelf

d~nored

by rhat ge–

nml

nam~,

aoo mefully amod lO rhe

difiincuifhin~

muks which feTVe ro

chm,~crize

it. Secondly, that we

ccmp"" rhis idea \Virh the objiél

und~r

confideration,

obfcrving diJig(Ody rlhmin rhey ' ¡He or ddfer.

the