In all our knowledge of general principles, what actually happens is that first of all we realize some particular application of the principle, and then we realize that the particularity is irrelevant, and that there is a generality which may equally truly be affirmed. This is of course familiar in such matters as teaching arithmetic: “two and two are four” is first learnt in the case of some particular pair of couples, and then in some other particular case, and so on, until at last it becomes possible to see that it is true of any pair of couples. The same thing happens with logical principles. Suppose two men are discussing what day of the month it is. One of them says, “At least you will admit that if yesterday was the 15th today must be the 16th.” “Yes,” says the other, “I admit that.” “And you know,” the first continues, “that yesterday was the 15th, because you dined with Jones, and your diary will tell you that was on the 15th.” “Yes,” says the second; “therefore today is the 16th.”