Finally, we consider for some of the false negative concepts discovered by our method may end up being positive propositions.
At the largest scale, many of the dialogues have total numbers of lines that are multiples of 12. Dividing whole texts by 12, Kennedy found "positive concepts" in the dialogues coinciding with harmonious intervals of Pythagoras's scale, and negative concepts at dissonant intervals.
In this way, negative concepts can be formed by reflecting on acts of negative judgement.
Brentano admits, however, that for practical reasons it may be convenient to use negative concepts, e.g., for simplifying inferences.
But can one form such negative concepts merely by thinking of an object that appears not to be great, without judging about its greatness?
We have already seen how Brentano uses this distinction for separating judgement and presentation, and for analysing A-judgements without invoking negative concepts.
All criteria except hotel prices (C2) have a positive concept, so in this step, the criteria can be divided into two categories: positive and negative concepts.
Furthermore, when expressing negative concepts, people are inclined to use the negation of a positive expression to alleviate sentiments, instead of using negative expressions directly.
If the act of negation is conceived of as a basic form of judgement and the ultimate ground for our understanding of truth and falsity, then the question arises what one should say about negative concepts, e.g. the concept 'not great'.
The presence of ≥4 positive or negative concepts was coded as emphasized positive or negative, respectively.
