The universal judgment is sometimes said to exhibit two distinct forms.
Investigation, however, has proved this statement to be incorrect.
Instances taken in themselves and apart from their character are of no
logical significance. Advance is made by weighing instances and not by
counting them. In short, the true universal is the hypothetical
judgment, and the reason for this may be readily shown. The hypothetical
judgment is essentially double-ended. On the one hand, it is a statement
of the problem of action in terms of the conditions which will turn the
problem into a solution. On the other hand, it is an assertion that once
the conditions of action have been determined the result desired may be
attained. Here we note that the judgment has come to clear consciousness
of itself and of the part which it plays in experience. It has now
obtained an insight into the criterion of its legitimate employment,
_i. e._, of its truth and falsity. And this insight makes the
justification of its claim almost self-evident. For, inasmuch as the
hypothetical judgment says, "If such and such conditions be realized,
such and such a result will be obtained," the test of the claim is made
by putting the conditions into effect and watching whether the promised
experience is given. And further, since it has been found that the
judgment formulated as a hypothesis actually accomplishes what it
promises, we must admit that the hypothetical judgment is also
categorical. These two factors cannot be separated from each other. It
is true that the hypothetical judgment reduces every valid meaning to
the form, "_If_ certain conditions be realized," but it as plainly and
positively asserts, "such and such results _will_ be obtained." When we
grasp the absolute correlativity of the hypothetical and categorical
aspects of judgment, we realize at once the essentially instrumental
character of judgment, when it comes to consciousness of its structure
and function. It arises in the self-conscious realization of a problem.
This it reflects upon and sizes up. When the difficulty has been
apprehended, the judgment emerges as the consciousness of the conditions
which will attain the desired end of action freed and unimpeded. This
may be illustrated by reference to the work of Pasteur cited above. His
investigations began in a problem set for him by agricultural conditions
in France. A certain disease had made the profitable rearing of sheep
and cattle almost an impossibility. After long and careful examination
he discovered the beneficial effects of vaccination. To him the
conditions which governed the presence of the disease became apparent,
and this knowledge furnished him with an instrument by means of which
one difficulty was removed from the path of the stock-raiser. In this
illustration we have an epitome of the work accomplished everywhere by
the scientist. It is his task to develop and to reduce to exact terms
instruments of control for the varied activities of life.
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