The Art of Thinking Well

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS.

§ i .—The meaning of “To think well.” What is Truth?

To think well consists simply, either in knowing the truth, or in guiding the understanding in the way which leads to it. Truth is the reality of things. “When we know them as they are in themselves, we reach the truth; otherwise, we fall into error. Knowing that there is a God we know a truth, because God really exists; knowing that the variety of the seasons depends on the sun, we know a truth, because it is so in fact; knowing that respect to parents, obedience to the law, good faith in contracts, fidelity to friends, are virtues, we know the truth; just as we would fall into error by thinking that perfidy, ingratitude, injustice, and drunkenness, are laudable and good.

If we desire to think well, we must endeavour to know the truth, that is, the reality of things. What is the use of thinking with acuteness, or with apparent profoundness, if our thoughts are not in conformity with the reality? A simple farmer, or a modest artisan, acquainted with the things connected with his business, will think and speak better about them than a presumptuous philosopher, who in laboured conceptions and high-sounding words might try to read them lectures on what he knows nothing about.