THE AIM AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 139 

 68. 



The admission that an actual break of continuity occurs 

 between the ordinary judgments of common-sense and the 

 judgments which involve hypotheses belonging to the class 

 which we distinguished in 63 will probably be obtained 

 without difficulty. A less ready acquiescence may be expected 

 when we proceed to maintain that a break can also be dis- 

 tinguished between common-sense judgments and scientific 

 judgments which involve hypotheses of our first class. It 

 will be remembered that these hypotheses consist in the 

 interpolation or extrapolation of facts homogeneous with the 

 data so as to form spatio-temporal systems of primary fact 

 consonant with experience. The very circumstance that the 

 added elements present this homogeneity with the data 

 makes the separation between the common-sense judgment 

 and the scientific judgment on this plane less conspicuous than 

 in the former case ; nevertheless, it may be held to exist. 



A trivial example may make the distinction clear. If I 

 say, "that man has a rolling gait," the synthesis has the 

 inevitable character that is the mark of the primary fact, the 

 common-sense judgment. If, on the other hand, I assert 

 (on the ground of his rolling gait) " that man is a sailor/' 

 my synthesis has the secondary character which is not inevit- 

 able. If then you ask me if such a judgment is " scientific," 

 I do not think I ought to hesitate to say "Yes" simply 

 because the instance js trivial. The secondary construction is 

 undoubtedly a reaction upon certain primary facts, and it has 

 the property of leading to the observation of other primary 

 " substantive " facts, and yet other facts, relation g between 

 these. In these respects it seems precisely like such a judg- 

 ment as " this substance is copper sulphate," based upon an 

 experiment in chemical analysis a judgment which would 

 generally be admitted as scientific. The farmer judgment, 

 in fact, is related to the " unconditional universal," " All men 



