150 CONDITIONS OF A PERFECT METHOD. [CHAP. X. 



CHAPTER X. 



OF THE CONDITIONS OF A PERFECT METHOD. 



1 HTTHE subject of Primary Propositions has been discussed at 

 -*- length, and we are about to enter upon the consideration 

 of Secondary Propositions. The interval of transition between 

 these two great divisions of the science of Logic may afford a fit 

 occasion for us to pause, and while reviewing some of the past 

 steps of our progress, to inquire what it is that in a subject like 

 that with which we have been occupied constitutes perfection of 

 method. I do not here speak of that perfection only which con- 

 sists in power, but of that also which is founded in the conception 

 of what is fit and beautiful. It is probable that a careful analysis 

 of this question would conduct us to some such conclusion as the 

 following, viz., that a perfect method should not only be an effi- 

 cient one, as respects the accomplishment of the objects for which 

 it is designed, but should in all its parts and processes manifest 

 a certain unity and harmony. This conception would be most 

 fully realized if even the very forms of the method were sugges- 

 tive of the fundamental principles, and if possible of the one fun- 

 damental principle, upon which they are founded. In applying 

 these considerations to the science of Reasoning, it may be well 

 to extend our view beyond the mere analytical processes, and to 

 inquire what is best as respects not only the mode or form of 

 deduction, but also the system of data or premises from which 

 the deduction is to be made. 



2. As respects mere power, there is no doubt that the first 

 of the methods developed in Chapter vm. is, within its proper 

 sphere, a perfect one. The introduction of arbitrary constants 

 makes us independent of the forms of the premises, as well as of 

 any conditions among the equations by which they are repre- 

 sented. But it seems to introduce a foreign element, and while 

 it is a more laborious, it is also a less elegant form of solution 

 than the second method of reduction demonstrated in the same 



