hets,
and suspending judgment till we know that the use of the epithet is
justified, the trifling superficial sign becomes for us practically
the whole meaning of the word. We feel that we must have a judgment of
some sort at once: only simple signs are suited to our impatience.

It was with reference to this state of things that Hegel formulated
his paradox that the true abstract thinker is the plain man who laughs
at philosophy as what he calls abstract and unpractical. He holds
decided opinions for or against this or the other abstraction,
_freedom_, _tyranny_, _revolution_, _reform_, _socialism_, but what
these words mean and within what limits the things signified are
desirable or undesirable, he is in too great a hurry to pause and
consider.

The disadvantages of this kind of "abstract" thinking are obvious.
The accumulated wisdom of mankind is stored in language. Until we have
cleared our conceptions, and penetrated to the full meaning of words,
that wisdom is a sealed book to us. Wise maxims are interpreted by
us hastily in accordance with our own narrow conceptions. All the
vocables of a language may be more or less familiar to us, and yet we
may not have learnt it as an instrument of thought. Outside the very
limited range of names for what we see and use in the daily routine of
life, food and clothes and the common occupations of men, words
have little meaning for us, and are the vehicles merely of thin
preconceptions and raw prejudices.

The remedy for "abstract" thinking is more thinking, and in pursuing
this two aims may be specified for the sake of clearness, though they
are closely allied, and progress towards both may often be made by
one and the same operation. (1) We want to reach a clear and full
conception of the meaning of names as used now or at a given time.
Let us call this the _Verification of the Meaning_. (2) We want to fix
such conceptions, and if necessary readjust their boundaries. This is
the province of _Definition_, which cannot be effectually performed
without _Scientific Classification_ or _Division_.

I.--VERIFICATION OF THE MEANING--DIALECTIC.

This can only be done by assembling the objects to which the words are
applied, and considering what they have in common. To ascertain the
actual connotation we must run over the actual denotation. And since
in such an operation two or more minds are better than one, discussion
or dialectic is both more fruitful and more stimulating