276 PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 



To this substitution the lecturer objected ; first, because it was 

 open to all the objections which had been urged against the study 

 of Logic ; namely, that men are found to reason very well with- 

 out a knowledge of its rules ; that those who are acquainted with 

 them, do not reason in the form of syllogism ; and that the appli- 

 cation of them, is insufficient for the discovery of new truth — the 

 truth of the conclusion being involved in that of the major pre- 

 mise. With reference to those several objections the lecturer 

 adduced instances of men who had reasoned accurately and pow- 

 erfully without a knowledge of Mathematics ; — he asserted that 

 no man was ever wild enough to apply the form or symbols of 

 mathematical reasoning, to any other subject, than that of quantity 

 and its relations, nor so silly as to talk about the quantity of an 

 historical fact, or the angle A B C of moral evidence ; and lastly 

 the process of the mind in reasoning being the same on all subjects, 

 whether mathematical or logical, he contended that the insuffici- 

 ency for the discovery of new truths, might be predicated of ma- 

 thematical as well as of logical reasoning, the objection applying 

 in fact to the mental operation itself. The lecturer here pointed 

 out the distinction between a process of reasoning and a process 

 of induction or investigation, and observed, that by the latter we 

 discover new truth, and by the former we test the accuracy of 

 our deductions. Having shewn that the preceding objections are 

 equally applicable to Mathematics as to Logic, the lecturer con- 

 tended that the former could not be considered as a desirable 

 substitute for the latter. 



The lecturer objected to the proposed substitution, secondlj/ 

 because the two systems do not contemplate the attainment of 

 the same end : the one by the study of quantity and its relations, 

 merely affording a convenient vehicle for the operation and exercise 

 of reasoning, the other by a careful analysis of the mental operation 

 itself, acquainting us with the theory and principles upon which 

 all reasoning depends. It would therefore be as wise to propose 

 the substitution of gymnastic exercises, for the study of anatomy, 

 because the former, has a tendency to develope and strengthen 

 those corporeal functions, which, it is the business of the latter, to 

 analyze and examine. 



The lecturer afterwards offered some remarks, on the nature 

 and tendency, of mathematical studies, as distinguished from 

 other intellectual pursuits. He strongly disclaimed any intention 

 to depreciate mathematical science, the proper application of 

 which had so much enlarged the boundaries of human knowledge 

 and encreased the comforts of human life : his object was merely 



