It appears that such may be the relation of the positive and negative
sides in case of such elaborate hypotheses as those of Kepler and
Newton; but is it true where our hypotheses are more simple? It is not
easy to understand why the fact that the hypothesis is more simple, and
the time required for its formulation and test a good deal shorter,
should materially change the state of affairs. The question remains:
Why, if there is no opposition, should there be any uncertainty? In all
instances, then, the hypothesis appears as one among other possible
predicates which may be applied to our data taken as subject-matter of a
judgment.
_The predicate as hypothesis._--Suppose, then, the hypothesis is a
predicate; is the predicate necessarily a hypothesis? This is the next
question we are called upon to answer, and, since the predicate cannot
very well be taken aside from the judgment, our question involves the
nature of the judgment.
While it will not be necessary to give a very complete account of the
various definitions of the judgment that might be adduced, still the
mention of a few of the more prominent ones may serve to indicate that
something further is needed. In definitions of the judgment sometimes
the subjective side is emphasized, sometimes the objective side, and in
other instances there are attempts to combine the two. For instance,
Lotze regards the judgment as the idea of a unity or relation between
two concepts, with the further implication that this connection holds
true of the object referred to. J. S. Mill says that every proposition
either affirms or denies existence, coexistence, sequence, causation, or
resemblance. Trendelenburg regards the judgment as a form of thought
which corresponds to the real connection of things, while Ueberweg
states the case a little differently, and says that the essence of
judgment consists in recognizing the objective validity of a subjective
connection of ideas. Royce points to a process of imitation and holds
that in the judgment we try to portray by means of the ideas that enter
into it. Ideas are imitative in their nature. Sigwart's view of the
judgment is that in it we say something about something. With him the
judgment is a synthetic process, while Wundt considers its nature
analytic and holds that, instead of uniting, or combining, concepts into
a whole, it separates them out of a total idea or presentation. Instead
of blending parts into a whole, it separates the whole into its
constituent parts. Bradley and Bosanquet both hold that in the judgment
an ideal content comes into relation with reality. Bradley says that in
every judgment reality is qualified by an idea, which is symbolic. The
ideal content is recognized as such, and is referred to a reality beyond
the act. This is the essence of judgment. Bosanquet seems to perceive a
closer relation between idea and reality, for although he says that
judgment is the "intellectual function which defines reality by
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