388 FALLACIES. 



explanation of practice. In another and a more vulgar sense, 

 theory means any mere fiction of the imagination, endeavour 

 ing to conceive how a thing may possibly have heen produced, 

 instead of examining how it was produced. In this sense 

 only are theory, and theorists, unsafe guides ; but because of 

 this, ridicule or discredit is attempted to be attached to theory 

 in its proper sense, that is, to legitimate generalization, the 

 end and aim of all philosophy ; and a conclusion is represented 

 as worthless, just because that has been done, which if done 

 correctly, constitutes the highest worth that a principle for the 

 guidance of practice can possess, namely, to comprehend in a 

 few words the real law on which a phenomenon depends, or 

 some property or relation which is universally true of it. 



&quot; The Church &quot; is sometimes understood to mean the 

 clergy alone, sometimes the whole body of believers, or at 

 least of communicants. The declamations respecting the in 

 violability of church property are indebted for the greater part 

 of their apparent force to this ambiguity. The clergy, being 

 called the church, are supposed to be the real owners of what 

 is called church property ; whereas they are in truth only the 

 managing members of a much larger body of proprietors, and 

 enjoy on their own part a mere usufruct, not extending beyond 

 a life interest. 



The following is a Stoical argument taken from Cicero 

 De Finibus, book the third : &quot; Quod est bonum, omne lauda- 

 bile est. Quod autem laudabile est, omne honestum est. 

 Bonum igitur quod est, honestum est&quot; Here the ambiguous 

 word is laudabile, which in the minor premise means anything 

 which mankind are accustomed, on good grounds, to admire 

 or value ; as beauty, for instance, or good fortune : but in 

 the major, it denotes exclusively moral qualities. In much 

 the same manner the Stoics endeavoured logically to justify 

 as philosophical truths, their figurative and rhetorical expres 

 sions of ethical sentiment : as that the virtuous man is alone 

 free, alone beautiful, alone a king, &c. Whoever has virtue 

 has Good (because it has been previously determined not to 

 call anything else good) ; but, again, Good necessarily includes 



