They work as true processes
would work, give us the same advantages, and claim our recognition
for the same reasons. All this on the common-sense level of, matters
of fact, which we are alone considering.
But matters of fact are not our only stock in trade. RELATIONS AMONG
PURELY MENTAL IDEAS form another sphere where true and false beliefs
obtain, and here the beliefs are absolute, or unconditional. When
they are true they bear the name either of definitions or of
principles. It is either a principle or a definition that 1 and 1
make 2, that 2 and 1 make 3, and so on; that white differs less from
gray than it does from black; that when the cause begins to act the
effect also commences. Such propositions hold of all possible
'ones,' of all conceivable 'whites' and 'grays' and 'causes.' The
objects here are mental objects. Their relations are perceptually
obvious at a glance, and no sense-verification is necessary.
Moreover, once true, always true, of those same mental objects.
Truth here has an 'eternal' character. If you can find a concrete
thing anywhere that is 'one' or 'white' or 'gray,' or an 'effect,'
then your principles will everlastingly apply to it. It is but a
case of ascertaining the kind, and then applying the law of its kind
to the particular object.
Pages:
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176