Franz Brentano_The True and the Evident.pdf
Franz Brentano_The True and the Evident.pdf
Franz Brentano_The True and the Evident.pdf
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44<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>True</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Evident</strong><br />
concepts, which is revealed only in experience, <strong>and</strong> we would become entangled in<br />
erroneous conclusions.<br />
Here, <strong>the</strong>n, is <strong>the</strong> new <strong>the</strong>sis. I am aware that it is far-reaching, for all abstracta are now<br />
to be counted as delusions. <strong>The</strong>y are useful as ways of speaking. Even Copernicus, for<br />
all his enlightenment, found it convenient to speak in Ptolemaic terms of <strong>the</strong> rising <strong>and</strong><br />
setting of <strong>the</strong> sun. And in ma<strong>the</strong>matics, it is convenient to be able to speak of infinitesimals,<br />
imaginary quantities, negative quantities, irrational numbers, <strong>and</strong> improper fractions,<br />
despite <strong>the</strong> fact that ma<strong>the</strong>maticians are fully aware of <strong>the</strong> intrinsic absurdity of <strong>the</strong>se<br />
products of <strong>the</strong> mind.<br />
Even space <strong>and</strong> time, <strong>the</strong>n, would not be anything real (to this extent we are with <strong>the</strong><br />
Idealists), <strong>and</strong> virtue would be only an empty word (despite our adherence to that which<br />
serves <strong>the</strong> ethical good). 2 A concession should be made to Nominalism; not that Nominalism<br />
is correct, however, but only that certain errors can be purged from <strong>the</strong> opposing <strong>the</strong>ory. 3