CHAPTER III. LOGICAL TRUTH

 All men know something of truth. Happily it is the first impulse of childhood, and nature teaches us its pleasure before reason instructs us in its truth. In infancy¹ we own its beauty, in manhood its power. There is nothing, says Cicero, sweeter to man than the light of truth. Truth, observes Godwin, is the native element of an intellectual nature. It has been wisely remarked, said Lord Kames, that truth is to the understanding what beauty is to the eye, or music to the ear.

Philosophy sanctions what unsophisticated feelings suggested. He that has made but a little progress beyond ignorance and privilege, cannot be edified² by anything but truth.** Truth, like a mathematical point, has had various descriptions; and it may be useful to select those which graduate to its logical definition. Bulwer tells us, that 'the agitation⁴ of thought is the beginning of truth.' Locke, Lord Kames, Mill, and others, agree that truth, or falsehood, is an affair of language. An assertion which represents things as they really are, is a truth—an assertion that represents things what in reality they are not, is a falsehood.

     ** Mr. Hobhouse: Note 15. to 4th Canto⁵ of Childe Harold.

Truth, in sculpture, means an exact similitude of some living form, chiselled⁶ in stone or marble. Truth, in painting, is a natural representation on canvass⁷ of some person, or object. In the same manner, moral 'truth is an exact image of things set forth⁸ in speech, or writing.' The logical definition of truth is given in these words:—'Truth is that which admits of proof,'* that is, an assertion or denial which can be substantiated⁹ by facts.

     * Chambers¹⁰' Information.

A fact is commonly called a truth, but this practice leads to great confusion in reasoning. A fact is only an element in truth, A logical truth is a proposition supported by facts. Facts compose the premises¹¹ of an argument—a truth is the inference from the facts. Unless this distinction is observed, recourse must be had to the expedient¹² of calling a fact a particular truth, and an induction¹³ from facts a general truth. Or we must adopt this distinction, that a moral truth, that is, the truth of parlance¹⁴, is the coincidence of language with reality; and a logical truth, a proposition which admits of demonstration¹⁵.

A lady, who has given intellectual laws to many whom I address, has said—'A truth I consider to be an ascertained¹⁶ fact, which truth would be changed into an error the moment the fact on which it rested was disproved.' But that which can be disproved cannot be an 'ascertained fact.' Allowing, however, the relevancy of this definition of a truth, it would, in a treatise¹⁷ on logic³, be considered as a definition only of a particular truth. Many such truths are required to make a logical truth.

1 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

2 edified   

v.开导，启发( edify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He must be edified by what he sees. 他耳濡目染，一定也受到影响。 来自辞典例句
• For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. 你感谢的固然是好，无奈不能造就别人。 来自互联网

3 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

4 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

5 canto   

n.长篇诗的章

参考例句：

• It's the fourth canto of Byron's "Childe Harold".这是拜伦长诗《恰尔德·哈罗尔德游记》的第四章。
• The Fifth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam tells of innumerable universes.《圣典博伽瓦谭》第五篇讲述了有无数宇宙存在。

6 chiselled   

adj.凿过的，凿光的； （文章等）精心雕琢的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• A name was chiselled into the stone. 石头上刻着一个人名。
• He chiselled a hole in the door to fit a new lock. 他在门上凿了一个孔，以便装一把新锁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 canvass   

v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论

参考例句：

• Mr. Airey Neave volunteered to set up an organisation to canvass votes.艾雷·尼夫先生自告奋勇建立了一个拉票组织。
• I will canvass the floors before I start painting the walls.开始粉刷墙壁之前，我会详细检查地板。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 substantiated   

v.用事实支持（某主张、说法等），证明，证实( substantiate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The results of the tests substantiated his claims. 这些检验的结果证实了他的说法。
• The statement has never been substantiated. 这一陈述从未得到证实。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

11 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

12 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。

13 induction   

n.感应，感应现象

参考例句：

• His induction as a teacher was a turning point in his life.他就任教师工作是他一生的转折点。
• The magnetic signals are sensed by induction coils.磁信号由感应线圈所检测。

14 parlance   

n.说法；语调

参考例句：

• The term "meta directory" came into industry parlance two years ago.两年前，商业界开始用“元目录”这个术语。
• The phrase is common diplomatic parlance for spying.这种说法是指代间谍行为的常用外交辞令。

15 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

16 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 treatise   

n.专著；(专题)论文

参考例句：

• The doctor wrote a treatise on alcoholism.那位医生写了一篇关于酗酒问题的论文。
• This is not a treatise on statistical theory.这不是一篇有关统计理论的论文。