The Origin of the Knowledge of Right and WrongBrentano, Franz
Philosophy
The Origin of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong
Brentano, Franz
Ethics
Sigwart finds himself compelled to distinguish between the positive
and the affirmative judgment, and the affirmative judgment--one hears
and wonders at the new terminology--is according to him, closely
examined, a negative judgment. On page 150 he says literally: “The
primordial judgment can certainly not be termed the affirmative
judgment, but is better described as the positive judgment, for
only in opposition to the negative judgment, and _in so far as it
rejects_ the possibility of a negation, is the simple statement A is
B an affirmation,” and so on. Inasmuch as it “rejects.” What else
can that mean than “so far as it denies”? As a matter of fact only
those negations can, according to this new and extraordinary use of
language, be called affirmations! Yet this would really mean, and
particularly when it is said that the proposition A is B _is_ often
such a negation (cf. the expressions just quoted), that the use
of language would be reduced to a confusion quite unnecessary and
altogether unendurable.
Not only is the affirmation--as set forth--according to Sigwart really
a negation but also, paradoxical as it may seem, the negation, on
close consideration, proves to be a positive judgment. It is true,
Sigwart protests against those who, like Hobbes, would regard all
negatives as affirmative judgments with negative predicates. But,
following Sigwart, if this is not so, then these must be affirmative
judgments with affirmative predicates, since he teaches that the
subject is in every case a judgment, the predicate being the notion of
invalidity. On p. 160 he says in the note the negation does away with
a supposition, denies the validity, and this expression, considered
in itself, might be taken to mean that Sigwart assumes here a special
function of denial (absprechen) the contrary of that of affirmation
(zusprechen). But no; a negative copula (cf. p. 153) according to him
there is not.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account