130 Bacon 



inductions, whether in good or vicious form, the same 

 action of the mind which inventeth, judgeth ; all one as in 

 the sense. But otherwise it is in proof by syllogism; for 

 the proof being not immediate, but by mean, the invention 

 of the mean is one thing, and the judgment of the conse 

 quence is another; the one exciting only, the other examin 

 ing. Therefore for the real and exact form of judgment, 

 we refer ourselves to that which we have spoken of inter 

 pretation of nature. 1 



For the other judgment by Syllogism, as it is a thing 

 most agreeable to the mind of man, so it hath been vehe 

 mently and excellently laboured; for the nature of man 

 doth extremely covet to have somewhat in his understand 

 ing fixed and immovable, and as a rest and support of the 

 mind. And therefore as Aristotle endeavoureth to prove, 

 that in all motion there is some point quiescent ; 2 and as 

 he elegantly expoundeth the ancient fable of Atlas, that 

 stood fixed, and bare up the heaven from falling, to be 

 meant of the poles or axle-tree of heaven, whereupon the 

 conversion is accomplished ; so assuredly men have a desire 

 to have an Atlas or axle-tree within to keep them from 

 fluctuation, which is like to a perpetual peril of falling; 

 therefore men did hasten to set down some principles about 

 which the variety of their disputations might turn. 



So then this art of Judgment is but the reduction of pro 

 positions to principles in a middle term : the principles to 

 be agreed by all and exempted from argument ; the middle 

 term to be elected at the liberty of every man s invention ; 

 the reduction to be of two kinds, direct and inverted; the 

 one when the proposition is reduced to the principle, which 

 they term a probation ostensive ; the other, when the con 

 tradictory of the proposition is reduced to the contradictory 

 of the principle, which is that which they call per incommo- 

 dum, or pressing an absurdity ; the number of middle terms 

 to be as the proposition standeth degrees more or less re 

 moved from the principle. 3 



But this art hath two several methods of doctrine, the 

 one by way of direction, the other by way of caution : the 

 former frameth and setteth down a true form of conse- 



1 In the Latin, legitimam (Inductionis formam) ad Novum 

 Organum remittimus. 



8 Aristot. De Motu Anim. 3. 3 Cf. Sanderson, Logic, iii. 5. 



