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SECT. I. Law in general. <head>2
Definition — properties it should have A Definition should be composed of terms that
[The terms employ'd in a Definition should] have a meaning
in the mind of him who uses them; that meaning should be such
as may be made visible to those whom they are addressed to: it
should be more simple easy to apprehend in it's conception than that of the term
they are made use of to define to be defined: it should be the same at one time as at another:
it should be true of one as well as another of the things characterized
by the term to be defined: it should be such as may contribute
to distinguish the things defined from other things they
may be in danger of being confounded with. I
In short if we may be allowed to say what it ought not to be: it ought
not to be unmeaning,uninstructive dark, ambiguous, fluctuating, narrow,
or uncharacteristic. I am in great doubt how this description
of a good definition will tally with our Author's.
Rule of Action The expression uninstructive, dark & uncharacteristic. The first thing we are told of Law is, that it is a rule of action
This is what may be very true. But what we are the wiser for it,
or how it, or how it can serve to distinguish Law from any thing
it is in danger of being confounded with is rather more than I
can conceive. The signification of the world "rule" is so loose
and vague that it is still more difficult to fix the import of it
than that of the term Law: and the entire expression a rule
of action, as soon as it appears to express any thing, appears to
express what is rather an accidental attribute of any Law, than
Sect. I Law in General 2
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sect. i law in general |
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