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Academy Resources Glossary of Philosophical Terms Timeline of Philosophy A Timeline of American Philosophy Diagram: Development of Philosophic Thought Diagram: Divisions of Philosophy The Philosophy Resource Center The Religion Resource Center Books about Philosophy in The Radical Academy Bookstore Books about Religion in The Radical Academy Bookstore Click Here for New & Used College Textbooks at Discount Prices Click Here for College Education Information & Study Resources Shop Amazon Stores in the Radical Academy Bookstore Magazine Outlet Music Store Classical Music Store Video Store DVD Store Computer Store Camera & Photo Store Computer/Video Games Software Store Musical Instruments Outlet Store Cellular Phones Toys & Games Tools & Hardware Automotive Store Outdoor Living Consumer Electronics Home & Garden Kitchen & Housewares Baby Superstore Apparel & Accessories Gourmet Food Grocery Store Sporting Goods Jewelry & Watches Health & Personal Care Beauty Store		The Functions of the Human Mind and Its Methods by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati   1. Method is a part of logic, and if taken in all its bearings, may be said to be itself logic, since the aim of the latter is throughout to establish the method of conducting our reasoning processes. . . . 2. The human mind has truth for its object, and, in relation to this most noble object, it exercises various functions. Some of these functions relate to truth already known; others, to truth which is still unknown, and the knowledge of which is sought for. 3. The functions of the mind, in relation to truths already known, may be reduced to three, namely, 1. The communication of it to others; 2. The defense of it; and, 3. The disentanglement of it from error. 4. The functions of the mind, in relation to truth as yet unknown, and which it seeks to know, may also be reduced to three, namely, 1. To find the demonstration of the truths known; 2. To find the consequences to be derived from them through their development and application; and, 3. and lastly, to attain through the senses, by observation and experience, new data on which to base entirely new arguments. 5. Each of these functions of the human mind has its own method, which consists of an assemblage of rules for the guidance of the mind itself in the performance of its work: hence we may distinguish six kinds of method, as we have distinguished six functions of the mind in relation to truth. 6. These are, the method of exposition, which teaches how best to impart our knowledge to others; the polemical method, which teaches us how to defend truth and repel its assailants; the critical method, which teaches how to separate the true from the false. These are the three methods which must govern our mental processes in relation to truths already known. The remaining three are, the demonstrative method, which gives the rules for arriving at exact demonstrations; the inductive, which teaches how to reach the truths yet unknown, through inductions and conclusions from the known, developing from the knowledge we have ascertained in germ, as it were, the far larger body of that which we do not know; and, finally, the method we shall call the perceptive-inductive, which is not satisfied with arriving at new cognitions by inductions and conclusions from previously known data, but which leads us to the discovery of wholly new data through the perception of new phenomena, skillfully produced and made apparent to our senses. These are the three methods which govern the functions of the mind in relation to truths yet unknown. The last alone is the experimental method proper, the Baconian, to which is due the immense progress of physical science in modern times.   Excerpted from The Ruling Principle of Method Applied to Education, by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati The Oxford Companion to Philosophy Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Book... Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Magazine... Academy Showcase Specials     Introduction & Directory
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