858 Dynamic Theory. 



new fact with its standard, such as to allow of a continuous sensation 



of the process. It therefore involves attention. 



There is no generic difference between a Judgment and a Prejudice. 

 The former degenerates into the latter in proportion as the number of 

 standards to which the new fact might be referred, is diminished. 

 Where there is but one standard to which the fact can be referred, such 

 reference is a foregone conclusion, and its assignment occurs without 

 much friction or hesitation, and while it is a judgment it is also a preju- 

 dice. It is a prejudice, likewise, when any one standard in a constant 

 state of attention monopolizes references, which in divided attention 

 might be directed to other standards, and operate perhaps as a sus- 

 pended judgment, at least temporarily. 



Generalization is a process by which the properties common to sev- 

 eral objects, serve to suggest those objects as belonging to a class or 

 genus. It is akin to classification. 



The physiology of these various processes is essentially the same 

 throughout, and consists in the automatic direction of attention and 

 blood supply to the several organs. In all probability the excitement 

 of one organ is often transferred to others, and also a stimulus from 

 the environment may divide upon entering the cerebrum, and be di- 

 rected to several organs at once. In either case the result is the simul- 

 taneous excitement of several organs with the production of the new 

 sensations arising from their interactions. 



There are certain intellectual convictions which seem to be common 

 to most people, whether they are actively conscious of them or not. 

 We believe in the reality of our existence, and in the reality of the ex- 

 istence of those things outside of us that arouse sensation in us. We 

 believe that changes do not happen without cause. We connect our 

 past with our present experience, and believe in our personal identity 

 extending through both. We believe in the stability of the universe, 

 ani the perpetuity of natural causes and effects. We believe we can do 

 as we please. As these beliefs .are common to all, they have been 

 called Intuitive. Some of them at least are the results of unconscious 

 reasoning processes, and from the uniform effects upon all brains, of 

 the general forces of nature, they are common to men and brutes. We 

 are mostly agreed, likewise, in the desirability of a knowledge of the 

 True, the Beautiful and the Good. But on comparison, we find such 

 knowledge is not axiomatic, since we disagree as to what constitutes it. 

 I define Truth to be knowledge of things as they are, ideas of Beauty 

 as the perceptions of harmonies which give us pleasure, and Right and 

 Goodness as qualities which, in our estimation, might contribute to our 

 interests. Even if we all agreed upon these definitions, however, our 

 greatly diverse opportunities for observation would lead to various opin- 



