20 



premise that "all men are mortal," and arrive at 

 the conclusion, through the minor premise, that a 

 particular individual is mortal. A certain attribute 

 — mortality — is asserted to be possessed by a class. 

 A member of the class must also possess the 

 attribute, and this is all the information that my 

 syllogistic conclusion has given me — that the indi- 

 vidual, named Thomas, possesses the attribute of 

 mortality, which belongs as a general character to 

 the group of individuals of which he is a member. 

 The two premises of the syllogism already consist 

 of established truths, and for a syllogism to be 

 valid there must be nothing contained in the con- 

 clusion beyond what is asserted in the premises. 

 The train of reasoning, therefore, is not adapted to 

 lead us to the acquirement of new knowledge. The 

 essence, indeed, of the system consists in proceeding 

 from generals to particulars. The major premise, 

 with which we start, is, in reality, a general proposi- 

 tion, containing knowledge which has been acquired, 

 not, it is true, by the methodical application of 

 induction ; but, nevertheless, after the manner of 

 induction, by observation repeated and confirmed 



