or nameable; and therefore we are able to make judgments that things,
non-existent but conceivable or nameable, are (or are not) determined in
a particular manner. Thus the judgment about a centaur is the belief, "A
conceivable centaur is a fiction of the poets," and the judgment about a
square circle is the belief, "A so-called square circle is an
impossibility." But, though beliefs that things of some sort are (or are
not) determined, these secondary judgments fall short of primary
judgments of existence. Whereas in a primary judgment there is a further
belief, signified by subject or predicate, that the thing is an existing
thing in the sense of being a real thing (e.g. a man), different from
the idea of it as well as from the name for it; in a secondary judgment
there is no further belief that the thing has any existence beyond the
idea (e.g. a centaur), or even beyond the name (e.g. a square circle):
though the idea or name exists, there is no belief that anything
represented by idea or name exists. Starting, then, from this
fundamental distinction between judgments of existence and judgments of
non-existence, we may hope to steer our way between two extreme views
which emanate from two important thinkers, each of whom has produced a
flourishing school of psychological logic.
On the one hand, early in the 19th century Herbart started the view that
a categorical judgment is never a judgment of existence, but always
hypothetical; on the other hand, in the latter part of the century
Brentano started the view that all categorical judgments are
existential. The truth lies between these contraries. The view of
Herbart and his school is contradicted by our primary judgments of and
from sense, in which we cannot help believing existence; and it gives an
inadequate account even of our secondary judgments in which we no longer
indeed believe existence, but do frequently believe that a non-existent
thing is (or is not) somehow determined unconditionally. It is true, as
Herbart says, that the judgment, "A square circle is an impossibility,"
does not contain the belief, "A square circle is existent"; but when he
goes on to argue that it means, "If a square circle is thought, the
conception of impossibility must be added in thought," he falls into a
_non-sequitur_. To be categorical, a judgment does not require a belief
in existence, but only that something, existent or not, is (or is not)
determined; and there are two quite different attitudes of mind even to
a non-existent thing, such as a square circle, namely, unconditional and
conditional belief. The judgment, "A non-existent but so-called square
circle is an impossibility," is an unconditional, or categorical
judgment of non-existence, quite different from any hypothetical
judgment, which depends on the conditions "if it is thought," or "if it
exists," or any other "if." On the other hand, the view of Brentano and
his school is contradicted by these very categorical judgments of
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