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General Sources of New Truth. 163 



also in which even the same truth may shew itself 

 are so diverse, that it is often impossible to discrimin- 

 ate new truth from old ideas clothed in a new form of 

 words. The newness of an idea is entirely a question 

 of evidence, and to determine it, usually requires a 

 complete knowledge of all the circumstances affecting 

 the particular case. 



New truth appears to be usually derived from new 

 physical or mental experiences of phenomena external 

 to our perceiving faculty ; either by observing matter 

 or its forces under new conditions or from a new 

 aspect; and the knowledge comes to us either through 

 the avenues of our feelings and senses, or by means of 

 direct observations, by comparison of such impres- 

 sions, or by inferences drawn from them. From the 

 results of such mental operations, additional new 

 truths are evolved by the more complex process of 

 analysis, combination and permutation of ideas. New 

 truths are also evolved from old ones by each of these 

 latter methods ; but sooner or later the implicit con- 

 tents of our stock of old knowledge becomes exhaus- 

 ted when used for such a purpose, and we are then 

 obliged to seek new experience. 



As new truths may be acquired in the more direct 

 manner, by acquisition of new experience ; and less 

 directly, by mental operations upon old ideas, other 

 subjects of less fundamental and more concrete 

 nature than the simple sciences, such as sociology, &c., 

 are also sources of progress, when treated in these 

 ways. 



Q Q 



