An introductory text-book of logic - Mellone, Sydney - Rare Books at ...

THE VALIDITY OF THE SYLLOGISM. 219
which he can extend to a new case,
it is a universal
idea. And the recognition of this universal is the
germ of the recognition of a general law. The child
may not separate the universal from its embodiment
in the particular case, or put it into language even to
himself; but he reasons through
it. And when the
reasoning is explicitly put into words, it must take
some such form as this: "The qualities of brightness,
movement, &c., found in that object, are also found
in this; that object burns, therefore this, which has
the same general nature or is of the same type, burns
also." This is implicit in the child s thought; and
it is in principle a syllogistic argument, bringing a new
case under a general principle.
This throws a new light on the nature of the general
proposition. It is not
"
an aggregate of particular
"
truths it does not refer merely to a collection of
;
things. When I say "hemlock is
poisonous,"
this
does not mean merely that in certain cases I have
seen it to be fatal ;
it means that, on the basis of
observation, I affirm that there is something in hem
a universal
lock which makes it fatal. I may gather
proposition from a single instance, provided that my
investigation of it is sufficiently thorough ; and the
result could not be called an
"
aggregate of particulars."
The characteristic of every truly general proposition
is that it does not refer to any definite number or
group of individuals, but to a perfectly indefinite
number, namely, to all who possess
certain attributes.
It asserts a connection of attributes. 1 The conclusion
1 This distinction of universal propositions from those which
express "aggregates of particular truths" is of great importance
in the philosophical developments of modern Logic : chapter XI.
4-