Under the heading "individual judgments" are classed such expressions
as, "That ship is a man-o'-war," "Russia opposes the policy of the open
door in China." In both these cases it is evident that an advance in
definiteness of conception and of complexity of meaning has been made,
while at the same time we recognize that the instrumental
characteristics of the thought-movement remain the same. In considering
the subject of the judgment we note that the stimulus presents itself
partly as a determinate factor and partly as a problem--an insistent
demand. The expression, "That ship is a man-o'-war," might be written,
"That is a ship and of the kind man-o'-war," and it thus constitutes
what Sigwart calls a "double synthesis." As used in actual judgment,
however, the two are held together and constitute the statement of a
single stimulus of which a certain portion is evident and a certain
portion is in doubt. The working out of the difficulty is given in the
predicate "is a man-o'-war," in which we at once detect the instrumental
characteristics fundamental to all judgment. To illustrate: At the
close of the battle of Santiago, in the Spanish-American war, smoke
appeared upon the horizon revealing the presence of a strange ship.
Instantly attention was directed to it, and it became a problem for
action--a demand for instrumental information. Soon it was identified as
a man-o'-war, and the American ships were cleared for action. Closer
approach raised a further question with reference to its nationality.
After some debate this also was resolved, and hostile demonstrations
were abandoned.
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