12 NAMES AND PROPOSITIONS. 



the import of words should be the earliest subject of the logician's con- 

 sideration : because without it he cannot examine into the import of 

 Propositions. Now this is a subject which stands on the very thresh- 

 hold of the science of logic. 



The object of logic, as defined in the Introductory Chapter, is to 

 ascertain how we come by that portion of our knowledge (much the 

 greatest portion) which is not intuitive ; and by what criterion we can, 

 in matters not self-evident, distinguish between things proved and things 

 not proved, between what is worthy and what is unworthy of belief. 

 Of the various questions which the universe presents to our inquiring 

 faculties, some are soluble by direct consciousness, others only by 

 means of evidence. Logic is concerned with these last. The solution, 

 by means of evidence, of questions respecting the universe and the 

 things contained in it, is the pm'pose of logic. But before inquiring 

 into the mode of resolving questions, it is necessary to inquire, what 

 are the questions which present themselves 1 what questions are con- 

 ceivable I what inquiries are there, to which men have either obtained, 

 or been able to imagine it possible that they should obtain, an answer ? 

 This point is best ascertained by a survey and analysis of Propositions. 



§ 2. The answer to every question wnich it is possible to frame, is 

 contained in a Proposition, or Assertion. Whatever can be an object 

 of belief, or even of disbelief, must, when put into words, assume the 

 form of a proposition. All truth and all eiTor lie in propositions. 

 What, by a convenient misapplication of an abstract term, we call a 

 Truth, is simply a True Proposition ; and eiTors are false propositions. 

 To know the import of all possible propositions, would be to know all 

 questions which can be raised, all matters which are susceptible of'be- 

 ing either believed or disbelieved. How many kinds of inquiries can 

 be propounded; how many kinds of judgments can be made; and 

 how many kinds of propositions it is possible to frame with a meaning, 

 are but different forms of one and the same question. Since, then, the 

 objects of all Belief and of all Inquiry express themselves in propo- 

 sitions ; a sufficient scrutiny of Propositions and of their varieties will 

 apprise us what questions mankind have actually asked themselves, 

 and what, in the nature of answers to those cjuestions, they have actu- 

 ally thought they had gi'ounds to believe. 



Now the first glance at a proposition shows that it is fomied by put- 

 ting together two names. A proposition, according to the common 

 simple definition, which is sufficient for our purpose, is, discourse, in 

 which something is affirmed or denied of something. Thus, in the prop- 

 osition, Gold is yellow, the quality yellow is affirmed of the substance 

 gold. In the proposition, Franklin was not bom in England, the 

 fact expressed by the words born in England is denied of the man 

 Franklin. 



Every p'roposition consists of three parts: the Subject, the Predi- 

 cate, and the Copula. The predicate is the name denoting that which 

 is affirmed or denied. The subject is the name denoting the person 

 or thing which something is affirmed or denied of The copula is the 

 sign denoting that there is an affirmation or denial ; and thereby ena- 

 bling the hearer or reader to distinguish a proposition from any other 

 kind of discourse. Thus, in the proposition, The earth is round, the 

 Predicate is the word round, which denotes the quality affirmed, or 



