Author Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 Excerpt:... from start to finish. The importance of this fact can be correctly estimated only when one realizes the all important part played by Thought in the life and welfare of the individual. "As a man thihketh, so is he." "We are the result of what we have thought.' The Master Mind thinks what it wills to think, not what others will it to think, or what Chance determines it shall think. Thus is the Master Mind the Master of Itself. In the next chapter we shall take up our consideration of the processes of Thought, beginning at this point where we are considering the nature of the Concept, and the Process of Conception. CHAPTER XIV MASTERY OF REASONING We have seen that a Concept expresses our general idea of a class of things. And, as we shall presently see, our idea of a particular object is frequently derived by Deductive Reasoning from our class concepts, it follows that our knowledge concerning any particular thing is largely obtained j through our concept of the class to which the thing belongs--or rather, from the classes to which it belongs, for every concrete thing belongs to a number of classes. This being seen, it is perceived that it is of the highest importance that we form accurate and full concepts regarding the classes of things which are concerned with our chosen field of knowledge. We have seen that the concept of a class of concrete objects must of necessity include all the quali- V ties common to that class. But it does not, and can not, also include any of the qualities which pertain only to certain individuals or groups within the general class. For example: the concept "dog" must include all the qualities or characteristics common to all dogs. But it cannot include any of the qualities or characteristics which are possessed only by some dogs...