CHAPTER II.. _classification._

CLASSIFICATION.

'Classification,' or the formation of Classes, is a Mental Process, in which we imagine that we have put together, in a group, certain Things. Such a group is called a '=Class=.'

This Process may be performed in three different ways, as follows:--

(1) We may imagine that we have put together all Things. The Class so formed (i.e. the Class "Things") contains the whole Universe.

(2) We may think of the Class "Things," and may imagine that we have picked out from it all the Things which possess a certain Adjunct not possessed by the whole Class. This Adjunct is said to be '=peculiar=' to the Class so formed. In this case, the Class "Things" is called a '=Genus=' with regard to the Class so formed: the Class, so formed, is called a '=Species=' of the Class "Things": and its peculiar Adjunct is called its '=Differentia='. pg002 As this Process is entirely Mental, we can perform it whether there is, or is not, an existing Thing which possesses that Adjunct. If there is, the Class is said to be '=Real='; if not, it is said to be '=Unreal=', or '=Imaginary=.'

Again, we may imagine that we have picked out all the Things which possess the Adjunct "weighing a ton, easily lifted by a baby"; and we may thus form the Imaginary Class "Things that weigh a ton and are easily lifted by a baby."]

(3) We may think of a certain Class, not the Class "Things," and may imagine that we have picked out from it all the Members of it which possess a certain Adjunct not possessed by the whole Class. This Adjunct is said to be '=peculiar=' to the smaller Class so formed. In this case, the Class thought of is called a '=Genus=' with regard to the smaller Class picked out from it: the smaller Class is called a '=Species=' of the larger: and its peculiar Adjunct is called its '=Differentia='.

If, in the above example, we were to alter "lit with gas" into "paved with gold," we should get the Imaginary Class "towns paved with gold."]

A Class, containing only one Member is called an '=Individual=.'

A Class, containing two or more Members, is sometimes regarded as one single Thing. When so regarded, it may possess an Adjunct which is not possessed by any Member of it taken separately.

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