that of its rivals in clarifying dark spots, untying hard knots, reconciling discrepancies, can elect it or prove it a valid idea for the given situation. [Sidenote: Judging terminates in a _decision_ or statement] 3. The judgment when formed is a _decision_; it closes (or concludes) the question at issue. This determination not only settles that particular case, but it helps fix a rule or method for deciding similar matters in the future; as the sentence of the judge on the bench both terminates that dispute and also forms a precedent for future decisions. If the interpretation settled upon is not controverted by subsequent events, a presumption is built up in favor of similar interpretation in other cases where the features are not so obviously unlike as to make it inappropriate. In this way, principles of judging are gradually built up; a certain manner of interpretation gets weight, authority. In short, meanings get _standardized_, they become logical concepts (see below, p. 118). § 2. _The Origin and Nature of Ideas_ [Sidenote: Ideas are conjectures employed in judging] This brings us to the question of _ideas in relation to judgments_.[19] Something in an obscure situation suggests something else as its meaning. If this meaning is at once accepted, there is no reflective thinking, no genuine judging. Thought is cut short uncritically; dogmatic belief, with all its attending risks, takes place. But if the meaning suggested is held _in suspense_, pending examination and inquiry, there is true judgment. We stop and think, we _de-fer_ conclusion in order to _in-fer_ more thoroughly. In this process of being only conditionally accepted, accepted only for examination, _meanings become ideas_. _That is to say, an idea is a meaning that is tentatively entertained, formed, and used with reference to its fitness to decide a perplexing situation,--a meaning used as a tool of judgment._ [19] The term _idea_ is also used popularly to denote (_a_) a mere fancy, (_b_) an accepted belief, and also (_c_) judgment itself. But _logically_ it denotes a certain _factor_ in judgment, as explained in the text. [Sidenote: Or tools of interpretation]