CHAPTER I.
Of Inferences in General.
§ 426. To infer is to arrive at some truth, not by direct experience, but as a consequence of some truth or truths already known. If we see a charred circle on the grass, we infer that somebody has been lighting a fire there, though we have not seen anyone do it. This conclusion is arrived at in consequence of our previous experience of the effects of fire.
§ 427. The term Inference is used both for a process and for a product of thought.
As a process inference may be defined as the passage of the mind from one or more propositions to another.
As a product of thought inference may be loosely declared to be the result of comparing propositions.
§ 428. Every inference consists of two parts—
(1) the truth or truths already known;
(2) the truth which we arrive at therefrom.
The former is called the Antecedent, the latter the Consequent. But this use of the terms 'antecedent' and 'consequent' must be carefully distinguished from the use to which they were put previously, to denote the two parts of a complex proposition.