4

Meaning 3
question, whether the reasoning persuades or convinces the mind; whether
when the premises are once accepted, we feel inclined, however irresistibly, to
accept the conclusion; as some German logicians of high renown maintain
that it is. [If the reader asks me how I can convince him of the correctness
of {carat: "this"} any position, I reply that I have no need of convincing him, since his own
firm conviction already coincides with mine, whether he be he aware of it, or
not. You doubtless remember an experience common to every high-school boy. I cannot
be so sure about the girls, never having been a high-school girl myself. Some One of your com-
rades brought you a piece of algebraic work, and asked you if it was correct.
You examined it and said it was. Your school-fellow said it would be such a terrible
thing for him if it were wrong, that he begged you to [P......] it through once more and
very carefully you did so, and pronounced it perfectly satisfactory. He asked you
to write on the paper a solemn oath that {carat: "the reasoning"} was free from the least flow, you did so. Then