Let me now say only
this, that truth is ONE SPECIES OF GOOD, and not, as is usually
supposed, a category distinct from good, and co-ordinate with it.
THE TRUE IS THE NAME OF WHATEVER PROVES ITSELF TO BE GOOD IN THE WAY
OF BELIEF, AND GOOD, TOO, FOR DEFINITE, ASSIGNABLE REASONS. Surely
you must admit this, that if there were NO good for life in true
ideas, or if the knowledge of them were positively disadvantageous
and false ideas the only useful ones, then the current notion that
truth is divine and precious, and its pursuit a duty, could never
have grown up or become a dogma. In a world like that, our duty
would be to SHUN truth, rather. But in this world, just as certain
foods are not only agreeable to our taste, but good for our teeth,
our stomach and our tissues; so certain ideas are not only agreeable
to think about, or agreeable as supporting other ideas that we are
fond of, but they are also helpful in life's practical struggles. If
there be any life that it is really better we should lead, and if
there be any idea which, if believed in, would help us to lead that
life, then it would be really BETTER FOR US to believe in that idea,
UNLESS, INDEED, BELIEF IN IT INCIDENTALLY CLASHED WITH OTHER GREATER
VITAL BENEFITS.
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