God Arises
The Method of Argument
~ 87 ~
more than an object of a certain size and a certain
shade of colour.’
Mill further remarks, ‘It is too much even to say, “I
saw my brother,” unless we recognize that such a
statement, as statement of observation, includes
something more than pure sense perception. For all
that we perceive, strictly, is some object of a certain
shape and colouring.
We compare this with memories of the appearance
of our brother, then it is only by comparison and
inference, that we interpret this new sense
perception and judge that we are looking at our
brother.
‘All reasoning is concerned with postulation and
testing of theories. Every accepted theory is a
statement of a fact about other facts. Whatever we
arrive at, by inference, is a theory. If it can be shown
to correspond with actual facts, it is true, and if not,
it is false. The theory must fit
all
the known facts to
which it refers, and only then can one proceed to
deduce from it hitherto unknown facts’.
