Logic aims at investigating the general function of knowing. But
knowing, it is commonly asserted, is constituted as judgment.
Furthermore, there is reason to believe that judgment undergoes
well-marked changes in its development. Consequently, an understanding
of the judgment-function and of its epochs in development is of prime
importance. In carrying through the investigation we shall endeavor,
first, to state and to defend a certain presupposition with reference to
the character of the judgment-function; second, to exhibit the
application of this presupposition in the typical stages of judgment.
I
Judgment is essentially _instrumental_. This is the presupposition which
we must explain and make good. And we shall accomplish this by way of an
analysis of judgment as meaning.
It cannot be denied that what we call knowledge is concerned with the
discrimination of valid meaning. To know is to appreciate the _meaning_
of things and the meaning _of things_ is the same with valid meaning.
Judging determines knowledge, and in the same act develops meaning. To
put it otherwise, knowledge is a matter of _content_; _content_ is
_meaning_, and we have knowledge when we have meaning satisfactorily
determined. It is evident, therefore, that if we would understand the
judging-function, we must first make clear to ourselves the nature and
rôle of _meaning_.
Meaning is universally embodied in _ideas_. To know, to understand the
meaning, to get ideas, are the same. Now, in ideas two factors may be
distinguished. First, every idea has as its base an image or emphasized
portion of experience. In some forms of ideation we are more immediately
aware of the presence of images than in others, but no idea--even the
most abstract--can exist apart from an ultimate base. Second, every idea
is equally a function of _reference_ and _control_. As _reference_, the
idea projects in the mind's view an anticipation of experiences and of
the conditions upon which these experiences depend for their
realization; as _control_, ideas are agencies in turning anticipations
into realizations.[54]
To be more specific on both points: Since the days of Galton it has been
almost a commonplace in psychology that ideas are embodied in forms of
imagery which vary for and in different individuals. It has been
maintained, it is true, that in abstract forms of thought, imagery
disappears. This objection is met in two ways. For one, words--the
vehicle of many abstract ideas--involve imagery of a most pronounced
type: for another, every idea, when examined closely, discloses an
image, no matter how much for the time being this has been driven into
obscurity by the characteristics of reference and control. Furthermore,
when we examine the anticipatory aspect of ideas, the presence of
imagery both with reference to outcome and to conditions is so evident
that its presence will scarcely be denied.
The second point may be illustrated in several ways. In everyday life
anticipation and realization are inseparable from the nature and use of
ideas. "Hat" means anticipation of protection to the head and the
tendency toward setting in motion the conditions appropriate to the
realization of this anticipation. The same factors are evident in the
boy's definition of a knife as "something to whittle with." Again it is
maintained that intelligence is an essential factor in human
self-consciousness. By this is meant that human beings are universally
aware in some degree of what they are about. And this awareness consists
in understanding the meaning of their actions, of forecasting the
outcome of various kinds of activity, of apprehending beforehand the
conditions connected with determinate results. Within this sphere we
speak of certain men as being pre-eminently intelligent, meaning that
for such men outcomes are previewed and connected with their appropriate
conditions far beyond the range of ordinary foresight. Finally,
scientific intelligence is essentially of this kind. It aims at
understanding the varying types of process which operate in nature and
thus at possessing itself of information with reference to results to be
expected under determinate conditions. For example, the knowledge
acquired in his researches by Louis Pasteur enabled him to predict the
life or death of animals inoculated with charbon virus according as they
had or had not been vaccinated previously. His information, in other
words, became an instrument for the control and eradication of the
disease. And what is true of this case is true of all science. To the
scientist ideas are "working hypotheses" and have their value only as
they enable him to predict, and to control. And while it is true that
the scientist usually overlooks the so-called _practical_ value of his
discoveries, it is none the less true that in due time the inventor
follows the investigator. The investigator is content to construct and
show the truth of his idea. The inventor assumes the truth of the
investigator's work and carries his idea as a constructive principle
into the complications of life. To both men "knowledge is power,"
although the "power" may be realized in connection with different
interests. But if this be true, ideas can no longer be regarded as
copies in individual experience of some pre-existing reality. They are
rather instruments for transforming and directing experience, by way of
constructing anticipations and the conditions appropriate to their
realization. Herein also consists their truth or falsity. The true idea
is reliable, carrying us from anticipation to realization; the false
idea is unreliable, and fails in bringing the promised result.
Now, in the development of instruments generally, we may distinguish a
rule-of-thumb or more or less unreflective stage of construction, and
one entirely reflective. As to use there is the distinction of inexpert
and expert control. This leads us to expect that in the thought-function
also certain typical stages of construction and of control may be found.
To the investigation of this point we shall next direct attention.