| the rational one, and since it | confuses the origin of knowledge with | its foundation, the mind is condemned | to jump immediately from empirical | particulars to first principles (or | axioms, in Bacon's terms) and to | render superfluous the required | induction which would gradually lead | from one point to the other. This | instantaneous slip from empirical | data to rational and essential dogmas | is made possible by the very nature | of the human mind. Left to itself, | the mind hurries toward certainty; it | is prone to gain assent and consent; | it fills the imagination with idols, | untested generalities. And it is this | natural haste and prejudice which | gives mental activity its | anticipative form. By themselves, | anticipations draw the most general | principles from immediate experience, | in order to proceed, as quickly as | possible, to the formal deduction of | consequences. Therefore, however | paradoxical it may appear, the old | logic is unduly empirical and unduly | logical. And the critique of | formalism [formalism draws the | conclusions from the premises without | inquiring upon the truth of the | premises] must be attended by the | critique of the nature of the human | mind. | | The human mind is so disposed that it | relies on the senses, which provide | it with the rudiments of all