Vintage Gentleman’s Art of Reason: Part 3

Vintage Gentleman
Oct 22
3 min read

Updated: Oct 23

Judgment: Weighing the Truth

We’ve looked at perception, how we take in the world and ideas, as well as how we interpret what we perceive. Now comes the next operation of the mind, one that separates truth from assumption: Judgment.

Isaac Watts lays it out plainly. In Logic; or, The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry After Truth (1725), he writes:

“An act of judgment is called a proposition, and it consists in joining or disjoining two ideas by affirmation or negation.”

Watts defines judgment as the act of comparing ideas to see whether they agree or disagree. That sounds simple enough, but today, judgment’s become more about reacting than reasoning.

You scroll. You see a headline. You feel something. And boom, judgment made. But that’s not judgment. That's a reflex.

Watts reminds us: judgment isn’t about what you feel, it’s about what you compare.

“It is the second operation of the mind, whereby it joins two or more ideas together by affirming or denying something concerning them.” (Watts, Logic, Part II, Section I)

The real power of judgment is in that moment between input and output - where you pause, reflect, and weigh. That’s what our culture has lost… the pause.

Why It Matters Today

Watts was writing long before 24-hour news cycles, memes, and soundbites, but he could’ve been warning us directly.

You can’t form sound conclusions if you skip over comparison. If you haven’t asked, “Do these ideas actually agree? Does this claim align with what I know to be true?”, then you’re not using judgment, you’re just picking sides.

This is where bias creeps in. It’s easy to surround yourself with sources that only reinforce your position. But as Watts warns, that’s a misuse of reason:

“It is a frequent, but a very faulty practice, to hunt after arguments only to make good one side of a question… and to neglect those which favor the other.” (Watts, Logic, Part II, Section III)

If you want to be a man who thinks clearly, you have to be willing to consider arguments that challenge your position. Otherwise, you're not forming judgments, you're protecting ego.

How to Judge Well

Watts gives us more than theory. He gives us a model:

Gather the ideas clearly: Know what’s actually being said.
Compare them honestly: Ask where they align or contradict.
Affirm or deny carefully: Don’t rush. Say, “These fit,” or “These oppose,” only when you're sure.
Express the judgment as a proposition: Clear. Logical. No room for emotional blur.

Here’s how that plays out practically:

Hear a controversial claim.
Break it into ideas.
Test those ideas against each other and against reality.
Then, and only then, state your position.

That’s a gentleman’s way to weigh the truth.

Weekly Assignment

Put judgment into practice this week. Here's your mental workout:

Pick a heated topic. Possibly something in the news or online.
Write down two opposing claims.
Break them into their base ideas.
Compare those ideas.
Then form a proposition, your reasoned judgment, and write it down.

Now test it. Is your judgment supported by evidence? Or just emotion?

Watts writes:

“If we proportion our assent to the evidence, we secure ourselves from error in the best manner human nature will admit.” (Watts, Logic, Part II, Section VI)

To put it plainly, the more solid the proof, the stronger your belief should be. If you match your confidence to the quality of the evidence, you’ll make fewer mistakes. Believe boldly when evidence is strong, but hold your opinions lightly when it’s not.

In Summary

Judgment is the mental act of comparing ideas, to affirm or deny their relationship.
Sloppy judgment comes from skipping comparison and leaning on bias.
A gentleman’s mind slows down, weighs carefully, and speaks with clarity.
The proposition, the expressed judgment, should be a reflection of truth, not team loyalty.

Editor’s Note

All direct quotes in this post are drawn from Isaac Watts’s Logic; or, The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry After Truth (1725), based on publicly available scans from the Internet Archive. Any paraphrased ideas are clearly noted and rooted in the original structure of Watts’s work. This blog series offers a practical, guided overview, not an exhaustive academic analysis. We strongly encourage you to read Watts’s original book for yourself and go deeper into the source.

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