iving
but with concepts; not with judging but with judgments. Is the concept
self-consistent or adequate? Logic asks; is the judgment capable of
proof? Now, it is only by recording our thoughts in language that it
becomes possible to distinguish between the process and the result of
thought. Without language, the act and the product of thinking would be
identical and equally evanescent. But by carrying on the process in
language and remembering or otherwise recording it, we obtain a result
which may be examined according to the principles of Logic.

Sec. 2. As Logic, then, must give some account of language, it seems
desirable to explain how its treatment of language differs from that of
Grammar and from that of Rhetoric.

Grammar is the study of the words of some language, their classification
and derivation, and of the rules of combining them, according to the
usage at any time recognised and followed by those who are considered
correct writers or speakers. Composition may be faultless in its
grammar, though dull and absurd.

Rhetoric is the study of language with a view to obtaining some special
effect in the communication of ideas or feelings, such as
picturesqueness in description, vivacity in narration, lucidity in
exposition, vehemence in persuasion, or literary charm. Some of these
ends are often gained in spite of faulty syntax or faulty logic; but
since the few whom bad grammar saddens or incoherent arguments divert
are not carried away, as they else might be, by an unsophisticated
orator, Grammar and Logic are necessary to the perfection of Rhetoric.
Not that Rhetoric is in bondage to those other sciences; for foreign
idioms and such figures as the ellipsis, the anacoluthon, the oxymoron,
the hyperbole, and violent inversions have their place in the
magnificent style; but authors unacquainted with Grammar and Logic are
not likely to place such figures well and wisely. Indeed, common idioms,
though both grammatically and rhetorically justifiable, both correct and
effective, often seem illogical. 'To fall asleep,' for example, is a
perfect English phrase; yet if we examine severally the words it
consists of, it may seem strange that their combination should mean
anything at all.

But Logic only studies language so far as necessary in order to state,
understand, and check the evidence and reasonings that are usually
embodied in language. And as long as meanings are clear, good Logic is
compatible with false