Item 23 - Richard Jones to William Whewell

3 pp.

RJ does 'heartily agree with you as to Aristotle - to whom it is childish to do scant or reluctant justice - but still it is nonetheless true that he was himself fascinated and misled by the demonstrating powers of his syllogistic art, and while wielding it or scratching at general propositions which were to enable him to wield his brilliant weapon he forgot sometimes what his precepts and example had done to shew and promote the true work of investigation. That his followers quite forgot what his mightier mind occasionally overlooked is not so wonderful but really Copleston [Edward Copleston] and Whately [Richard Whately] are a little too bold - having themselves the first of their caste come to perceive the true scope and limits of the deductive art, they set about abusing in good set terms all who had overrated its pretensions - as if that overrating did not begin or end with logicians and especially Oxford itself'. RJ believes that he has 'traced induction from the works of the logicians into the mind of Bacon - very successfully I think'. Although he finds some confusion in the way Bacon uses induction.