Mind

ISBN: 9781330295823 出版年：2016 页码：515 Forgotten Books

That which connective activity cognitively determines is the existential form of the object. Thus separating, combin ing, and connecting are three phases of a progressive cognitive process which may be contrasted with phases of the pro gress1ve determination of character, in the narrower sense of the term character. When we have to use the term char acterisation in the generic sense, we may distinguish its two Species by the terms internal characterisation and external characterisation. Now the kind of substantive which can be not only internally characterised, but also characterised as regards its spatio -temporal connexions, will be called an existent. So that briefly an existent is a kind of substantive which can be both internally and externally characterisedu In fact, a substantive proper — as understood,in its ultimately genuine sense — may be identified with an existent. I propose to adopt the word descriptum for any term (to whatever log ical category it may belong) which is structurally united with an appropriate adjective; the adjective thus united with the descriptum will be termed its description; and the union of the adjective with the substantive 'the descriptum as described — will be termed a 'descript'. An extended ap plication of the notion of a descript will be discussed later. The introduction of the notion of internal contrasted with external characterisation will be serviceable in a later dis cussion of the burning problem concerning internal and external relations.