But the mind knows in two ways, by intuition and by thinking. In consequence the mind has two kinds of notions, those which are intuitive or _individual notions_ and those which originally result from thinking or _general notions_.
_An individual notion is a notion of one thing. A general notion is a notion of a class of things._
_Note._ Here it is necessary to distinguish between a thing and an object. _An object is a thing which occupies space_ such as a pencil or a book. “_Thing_” is, therefore, a broader term than “_object_.” “_A thing is that which has individual existence._” From the viewpoint of logic “thing” includes objects, qualities, relations, spiritual entities. Gravitation is a thing but not an object. A tree is both an object and a thing.
My notion of the pencil with which I am writing is an individual notion, but my notion of pencil as a _class name_ is general. My yellow dog, the honesty of Lincoln, Albert White, New York City, are individual notions, while dog, honesty, man, city, are general notions.
A sure way to determine whether the notion is individual or general is to attempt to divide it into its kinds. Only general notions may be subdivided.
=5. KNOWLEDGE AND IDEA AS RELATED TO THE NOTION.=
Knowledge is anything known, while anything of which the mind becomes aware is a notion. Notions are always bits of knowledge, but knowledge is not always a notion. Notions are mental products belonging to the mind which thinks them, while knowledge, though it must first be a mental product of someone’s mind, may not necessarily be a product of yours or mine. Notions are always found in the mind, while knowledge may be found in books, but not necessarily in some individual mind. Knowledge stands for everything _known_, the notion, for everything _noted_. The Egyptians may have possessed much knowledge of which we may never become aware. Much of their _knowledge_ may never become _notions_ of the American people. A notion is an existing state of consciousness. Said notion may be committed to paper, and then it may give way to another notion. It now ceases to be your notion, but remains on the printed page, as a bit of knowledge.
“Idea,” because of its ambiguity, really has no place in logic. The term is frequently restricted to a _reproduced percept_. To illustrate: When the pencil is before me the mental product is a percept, but when the pencil is withdrawn and I try to think of it, then have I an _idea_ of “pencil.” Probably _idea_ is most commonly associated with _meaning_ and _belief_. To illustrate: What is your _idea_ as to the meaning of homogeny? or What are your _ideas_ on the tariff?