140 THE INTELLECTUALIST CRITERION 



thing. We call it &quot; verification &quot; when we regard 

 it as process ; when the development of the idea is 

 strung out and exposed to view in all that makes 

 it true. We call it &quot; truth &quot; when we take it as 

 product, as process telescoped and condensed. 



Suppose the idea to be an invention, say of the 

 telephone. In this case, is not the verification of 

 the idea and the construction of the device which 

 carries out its intent one and the same? In this 

 case, does the truth of the idea mean anything 

 else than that the issue proves the idea can be 

 carried into effect? There are certain intellectu- 

 alists who are not of the absolutist type; who do 

 not believe that all of men s aims, designs, projects, 

 that have to do with action, whether industrial, 

 social, or moral in scope, have been from all 

 eternity registered as already accomplished in real 

 ity. How do such persons dispose of this prob 

 lem of the truth of practical ideas? 



Is not the truth of such ideas an affair of mak 

 ing them true by constructing, through appropri 

 ate behavior, a condition that satisfies the re 

 quirements of the case? If, in this case, truth 

 means the effective capacity of the idea &quot; to make 

 good,&quot; what is there in the logic of the case to 

 forbid the application of analogous considerations 

 to any idea? 



I hear a noise in the street. It suggests as its 

 meaning a street-car. To test this idea I go to 



