Logic

The next day, on the second floor of the City-State Public Library.

"Young man, you can't go in. This is a gathering of the city-state's foremost scholars." When Ace tried to enter the meeting room on the library's second floor, a middle-aged man politely but firmly stopped him. He was the disciple of Tang Sen, the scholar presiding over the meeting, and was in charge of receiving guests today.

Ace was somewhat helpless. Being too young was troublesome. He showed the middle-aged man the Scholar's Badge issued by the Ministry of Culture and Education and let him examine it for a long while. In the end, with Daina passing by and helping explain, the man finally agreed to go in and consult Tang Sen. Only then was Ace allowed into the meeting room.

There were around thirty people in the meeting room. Most of the scholars had graying hair, so it was no wonder they had not let him in. After all, no one had told the middle-aged man that a half-grown child was also qualified to attend the meeting.

"The time has come. Gentlemen, please quiet down. I am this year's presiding scholar, Tang Sen. My main research concerns Demonic Beasts, and I am the author of the Compendium of Low-Level Demonic Beasts. I am delighted to exchange ideas with everyone today. There are many familiar faces here, as well as some new ones. Please introduce yourselves one by one, and then we will begin taking turns to speak."

So it was him. Thinking of the Compendium of Low-Level Demonic Beasts, which had helped him greatly, Ace could not help feeling more favorably toward Tang Sen. He sat in a row near the back and watched everyone take the stage. When it was his turn, a brief wave of whispers rose below, most of them expressing surprise at his youth.

"I am Ace, disciple of Scholar Peter. Together with my teacher, I co-authored the Common Tongue Dictionary, and I independently wrote Book Classification and Indexing. Everyone present is my senior in academia. I hope to learn from you all at close range today." It was a standard Peter-style opening: polite and modest.

After presiding scholar Tang Sen made a few warm-up remarks, they entered the stage where everyone spoke in turn. The scholars began taking the stage to explain their academic ideas in detail. As a newly promoted scholar, Ace was arranged last. By the time he went up, everyone was tired, and some scholars had begun to yawn. Peter looked at Ace encouragingly, and Ace gave him a slight nod.

"I am Ace. My specialty is language, and I am currently studying medicine. But today, I will speak neither of language nor medicine. The scholars yawning below must be wondering: is this little fellow playing us for fools? Other than language and medicine, what else can he talk about?"

Ace's opening successfully made the sleepy scholars laugh, drawing their attention somewhat.

"Today, I will speak about 'what logic is and its decisive significance in academic research.'"

Hearing this unfamiliar word, the scholars below were somewhat bewildered. Another newly coined term. Peter revealed a knowing smile.

"This is a new term I coined, formed from the root for thought and the suffix for reason. It means rational thinking. While studying language, I discovered that language is the key to thought. If we were to define language, then language is the tool of thought, realizing, consolidating, and conveying thought." Ace paused, allowing the scholars below to think.

The scholars below discussed it in low voices. "Your disciple is rather interesting. Whether it is his compound words or his definition of language, both are fresh and fitting. As expected of someone who gives definitions to words." Bayern, a scholar who studied arithmetic, said this to Peter.

"Through my study of language, I discovered that thought has patterns. Good ways of thinking allow us to better understand the world and better carry out our own academic fields. To truly study a field well, one must research without prejudice or subjective coloring. I call this neutral and objective research. Logic is a discipline that helps people think neutrally and objectively."

"Your disciple has great ambitions. He actually wants to instruct people on how to think." Bayern was somewhat disdainful. How could a half-grown boy possibly understand thinking better than the old men present? Did he think himself some lucky fellow favored by the Goddess of Wisdom?

Peter was somewhat puzzled as well, but he trusted his disciple. Ace himself was an example of independent and objective thinking. Perhaps he truly had gained some insight.

Ace ignored the whispers below. "Logic studies thought. Thought is too empty and intangible, with nowhere to lay hold. We must give it a fulcrum, and that fulcrum is the concept.

"A concept is a mode of thought that reflects the essential attributes or distinctive attributes of things. Concepts differ in kind from sensation, perception, and representation. Sensation, perception, and representation reflect concrete images. Within those concrete images, the essential and non-essential attributes of an object are mixed together and not separated.

"A concept does not reflect an object's concrete image. Rather, it abstracts the object's essence and discards its non-essential aspects. Concepts possess abstraction and generality."

The scholars below gradually fell silent and serious. This string of newly coined terms and new definitions clearly sketched out what a concept was. In their daily research, they often had inspiration like this—something they wanted to grasp but could not quite seize. Now, it seemed as though the veil was about to be pierced.

"What are attributes? They are the properties and relations of things. A thing's weight, color, taste, time, space, performance, and function are all properties. The connections between one thing and other things are what we call relations in logic.

"The attributes of things are divided into essential and non-essential attributes. Essential attributes are unique to a class of things. For example, 'being ill' is an essential attribute of a patient, while 'having eyes' and 'having feet' are non-essential attributes of a patient.

"To form a concept of a thing is the process of abstracting its essential attributes."

The entire meeting room grew ever quieter. Every scholar was thinking. Peter's eyes shone with delight. He had never imagined that Ace had developed such a discipline.

"We must also understand the relationship between concepts and ordinary words. All thought is expressed through language. Words are the sounds and symbols that express concepts; they are the linguistic form of concepts, while concepts are the intellectual content of words. The two differ in certain ways, but I will not elaborate here."

"I can sense that there is a difference too, but what exactly is the difference? Why doesn't your student explain it clearly?" Bayern complained to Peter, scratching at his ears and cheeks.

"I will suggest that he write a detailed book after the meeting, expounding on concepts. When the time comes, he can sell it to you at a high price," Peter said, slightly sarcastically.

"Then you must suggest that he write it. I would love nothing more than to learn logic. I think you stumbled upon a tremendous bargain. You couldn't possibly have taught such a genius disciple." Bayern gave a wholehearted reversal, though his mouth still did not forget to jab at Peter.

Peter did not reply again and continued listening intently as Ace explained what concepts were.

"Next, I will explain the intension and extension of concepts. Concepts reflect the essential attributes of things, and thus they also reflect the objects possessing those essential attributes. Therefore, concepts have objective content and a definite scope. The intension of a concept is its essential attributes, while the extension of a concept is its scope.

"For example, the concept of a 'City-State Scholar': its intension refers to people whose academic achievements are publicly recognized as exceptional and who have been awarded Scholar's Badges by the Ministry of Culture and Education. Its extension is all people whose academic achievements are publicly recognized as exceptional and who have been awarded Scholar's Badges by the Ministry of Culture and Education, regardless of whether they study Demonic Beasts, law, or arithmetic."

"The intension and extension of concepts possess both definiteness and flexibility. Because concepts arise from people's understanding of things, that understanding remains stable within a particular stage, yet deepens and develops over continuous time. Therefore..."

"Concepts have categories: singular concepts and universal concepts, collective concepts and non-collective concepts, positive concepts and negative concepts..."

"Relationships exist between concepts because the objective things reflected by concepts have all manner of connections. Depending on whether their extensions overlap, they may be divided into compatible relations and incompatible relations..."

"Limited by time, today I have only explained what concepts are and the relationships between concepts. Only by maintaining objective and neutral research thinking, and using the basic knowledge of logic as a tool, can we cast aside a priori thought and fanciful thought, and conduct academic research with rational thought. Thank you, everyone."

Ace stepped down from the stage. The entire meeting room was silent. After quite a while, thunderous applause broke out.

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