Thus, compared with the ignorant among other peoples, such as the nomadic Turks and their like, they are better, provided they are free of their misguidance. With their misguidance, however, those ignorant members of humanity who retain their natural disposition may be better than they are. As for even the most misguided adherents of religious communities—such as ignorant Christians and the Samaritans among the Jews—they are more knowledgeable, better guided, wiser, and more faithful to the truth than these philosophers. I have discussed this at considerable length elsewhere.

The purpose here is simply to show that this discipline offers little benefit and contains much superfluous material. This is because the discipline of logic is seldom useful in practical and ethical matters. Although universal affirmative propositions do occur in practical matters, those who govern themselves, their households, and their realms arrive at such general judgments through means that do not require logic. Once such a judgment has been reached, its benefit lies in putting it into practice.

Moreover, practical matters do not depend on a general judgment. Whenever someone knows that an action benefits him, he performs it; whatever action harms him, he abandons it. He may know this through outward or inward perception; it does not depend on a general judgment. It is therefore clear that logic cannot properly be applied to most practical matters. This is why