The First Station: The Negative Discussion of Definitions and Conceptions.

They contend that non-self-evident conceptions can be attained only through definition. We shall address this claim from several angles.

First: It is undeniable that the one who denies must provide evidence if his denial is not self-evident, just as the one who affirms must do so. Any proposition—whether negative or affirmative—requires proof when it is not evident in and of itself; to issue a negative judgment without knowledge is merely to speak without knowledge. Hence, the assertion that “these conceptions are acquired only through definition” is a negative claim and not self-evident. On what grounds, then, is it maintained? If it is nothing more than a claim without knowledge, their very first premise is rooted in ignorance. How, then, can a statement made without knowledge serve as the foundation of a criterion for knowledge, or of what they claim to be a canonical tool that, when observed, protects the intellect from erring in its reasoning?