The Scottish Philosophy [273]
class responsible; which again is in the class free agent; consequently man is in the class free agent. Unless our knowledge of attributes is such as to enable us {453} thus to form classes, the reasoning is not valid; and the best form in which to brand out the principle involved is,
All responsible agents are free agents; But man is a responsible agent Therefore he is a free agent.
But if this be so, then we are back to the, "Whatever is true of a class is true of all the members of the class." But as all extension involves comprehension, it is of moment to be able on demand to put reasoning in the form of comprehension.
It is urged in favor of the practical value of the analytic, that it makes figure unessential and reduction unnecessary. But it enlarges the number of legitimate moods, making them 36 under each figure, or in all 108, -- a number which is apt to frighten the student.
He vacillates in his account of hypotheticals and disjunctives. His final opinion is given (Vol. II., 370-378 -- " Hypotheticals (conjunctive and disjunctive), April 30, 1849"). "These syllogisms appear to be only modifications or corruptions of certain immediate inferences, for they have only two terms, and obtain a third proposition only by placing the general rule of inference (stating, of course, the possible alternatives), disguised, it is true, as the major premises.
He had divided logic into pure and modified, and he treats of the latter in Vol. ". He doubts whether there can be a modified logic; and is ever striving to impart to what he says under that head a rigidly technical form. The remarks which he throws out are often characterized by much intellectual ability, and some of them are of great value. But most of the topics discussed do not admit of so formal a treatment as he would give them. His account of the Baconian induction is a failure. The truth is, he never appreciated or understood the method pursued in the physical sciences.
The appendix contains a miscellaneous but very valuable set of papers on logical subjects. I doubt much whether Hamilton's system of logic will ever as a whole be adopted by our colleges. We have, however, two admirable text-books founded on it-. Thomson's "Outline of the Laws of Thought" and Bowen's "Logic." It will be acknowledged by all, that the discussions he has raised have done more to clear up unsettled points in {454} formal logic than any work published since the days of Kant. These discussions will be looked at by writers on logic in all coming ages.
In parting with this great man, now gone from our world, it is most satisfactory to notice what was the professed aim of all his philosophy,-- it was to point out the limits to human thought, and thereby to teach man the lesson of intellectual humility. It is instructive to find that this has been the aim of not a few of the most profound philosophers with which our world has been honored. The truth is, it is always the smallest minds which are most apt to be swollen with the wind engendered by their own vanity. The intellects which have gone out with greatest power to the farthest limits are those which feel most keenly the barriers by which man's capacity is bounded. The minds that have set out on the widest excursions, and which have taken the boldest flights, are those which know best that there is a wider region beyond, which is altogether inaccessible to man. It was the peculiarly wise man of the Hebrews who said, " No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." The Greek sage by emphasis declared that if he excelled others it was only in this, that he knew that he knew nothing. It was the avowed object of the sagacious Locke to teach man the length of his tether,-- which, we may remark, those feel most who attempt to get away from it. Reid labored to restrain the pride of philosophy, and to bring men back to a common sense in respect of which the peasant and philosopher are alike. It was the design of Kant's great work to show how
All responsible agents are free agents; But man is a responsible agent Therefore he is a free agent.
But if this be so, then we are back to the
It is urged in favor of the practical value of the analytic, that it makes figure unessential and reduction unnecessary. But it enlarges the number of legitimate moods, making them 36 under each figure, or in all 108, -- a number which is apt to frighten the student.
He vacillates in his account of hypotheticals and disjunctives. His final opinion is given (Vol. II., 370-378 -- " Hypotheticals (conjunctive and disjunctive), April 30, 1849"). "These syllogisms appear to be only modifications or corruptions of certain immediate inferences, for they have only two terms, and obtain a third proposition only by placing the general rule of inference (stating, of course, the possible alternatives), disguised, it is true, as the major premises.
He had divided logic into pure and modified, and he treats of the latter in Vol. ". He doubts whether there can be a modified logic; and is ever striving to impart to what he says under that head a rigidly technical form. The remarks which he throws out are often characterized by much intellectual ability, and some of them are of great value. But most of the topics discussed do not admit of so formal a treatment as he would give them. His account of the Baconian induction is a failure. The truth is, he never appreciated or understood the method pursued in the physical sciences.
The appendix contains a miscellaneous but very valuable set of papers on logical subjects. I doubt much whether Hamilton's system of logic will ever as a whole be adopted by our colleges. We have, however, two admirable text-books founded on it-. Thomson's "Outline of the Laws of Thought" and Bowen's "Logic." It will be acknowledged by all, that the discussions he has raised have done more to clear up unsettled points in {454} formal logic than any work published since the days of Kant. These discussions will be looked at by writers on logic in all coming ages.
In parting with this great man, now gone from our world, it is most satisfactory to notice what was the professed aim of all his philosophy,-- it was to point out the limits to human thought, and thereby to teach man the lesson of intellectual humility. It is instructive to find that this has been the aim of not a few of the most profound philosophers with which our world has been honored. The truth is, it is always the smallest minds which are most apt to be swollen with the wind engendered by their own vanity. The intellects which have gone out with greatest power to the farthest limits are those which feel most keenly the barriers by which man's capacity is bounded. The minds that have set out on the widest excursions, and which have taken the boldest flights, are those which know best that there is a wider region beyond, which is altogether inaccessible to man. It was the peculiarly wise man of the Hebrews who said, " No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." The Greek sage by emphasis declared that if he excelled others it was only in this, that he knew that he knew nothing. It was the avowed object of the sagacious Locke to teach man the length of his tether,-- which, we may remark, those feel most who attempt to get away from it. Reid labored to restrain the pride of philosophy, and to bring men back to a common sense in respect of which the peasant and philosopher are alike. It was the design of Kant's great work to show how