Philosophers have in the past had difficulty in determining how to define ethical terms. here they are defined as open-context terms with a loosely limited range of substitution instances, in conformity with actual language usage. ethical terms are in themselves meaningless. it is a misuse to say, "x is wrong in itself." ethical terms then reduce to empirical terms concerning wants, likes, knowledge of cause and effect and consequences, knowledge of how ethical terms themselves work. ethical commands reduce to if-then (...) statements. blame may possibly never make sense. (shrink)

Deduction has frequently been condemned as a useless intellectual instrument because of its tautological character. To thoroughgoing opponents of rationalism, the pretensions of deduction are on the same level with those of induction. Both presume to yield more knowledge from the fact that we have some knowledge; and this is an impossible paradox, which not even so powerful an opponent of the “Philosophy of Experience” as Bradley could resolve to his own satisfaction. I wish in this brief note to indicate (...) how this semblance of paradox may very easily be removed without having to deny, as has often been thought necessary, the tautologicality of deduction. (shrink)