Controversy as to the Import of Propositions really turns upon a
difference of opinion as to the scope of Logic and the foundations of
knowledge. Mill was dissatisfied with the "congruity" of concepts as the
basis of a judgment. Clearly, mere congruity does not justify belief. In
the proposition _Water rusts iron_, the concepts _water_, _rust_ and
_iron_ may be congruous, but does any one assert their connection on
that ground? In the proposition _Murderers are haunted by the ghosts of
their victims_, the concepts _victim_, _murderer_, _ghost_ have a high
degree of congruity; yet, unfortunately, I cannot believe it: there
seems to be no such cheap defence of innocence. Now, Mill held that
Logic is concerned with the grounds of belief, and that the scope of
Logic includes Induction as well as Deduction; whereas, according to
Hamilton, Induction is only Modified Logic, a mere appendix to the
theory of the "forms of thought as thought." Indeed, Mill endeavoured in
his _Logic_ to probe the grounds of belief deeper than usual, and
introduced a good deal of Metaphysics--either too much or not
enough--concerning the ground of axioms. But, at any rate, his great
point was that belief, and therefore (for the most part) the Real
Proposition, is concerned not merely with the relations of words, or
even of ideas, but with matters of fact; that is, both propositions and
judgments point to something further, to the relations of things which
we can examine, not merely by thinking about them (comparing them in
thought), but by observing them with the united powers of thought and
perception. This is what convinces us that _water rusts iron_: and the
difficulty of doing this is what prevents our feeling sure that
_murderers are haunted by the ghosts of their victims_. Hence, although
Mill's definition of a proposition, given above, is adequate for
propositions in general; yet that kind of proposition (the Real) with
regard to which Logic (in Mill's view) investigates the conditions of
proof, may be more explicitly and pertinently defined as 'a predication
concerning the relation of matters of fact.'
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