| | I have been reading Reality and the Mind by Celestine Bittle, published in 1936.
"Certitude is the state of mind in which it gives a firm assent to a judgment without fear of the possibility of error, due to recognized valid reasons. This does not mean the mind is really infallible in theses convictions and error is impossible. What it means is the mind is subjectively certain of its grounds and does not fear the possibility of error" (page 22).
He proceeds to say there are degrees of certainty and classes of increasing degree, such as follow. There are moral certitude, physical certitude, and metaphysical certitude. The first is certainty about a general truth but not true in every instance, such as 'Parents love their children." Physical certitude is based on a physical law of nature, with the law considered to be uniform, necessary and universal. Metaphysical certitude is based on metaphysical law, an exception to which is intrinsically impossible, because it would involve a contradiction. We are convinced no power can change truths like 2+2=4, the part is smaller than the whole, and a circle is no square.
Bittle uses different words that (arguably) have a very similar meaning as Peikoff:
"The concept of "certainty" designates knowledge from a particular perspective: it designates some complex items of knowledge considered in contrast to the transitional evidential states that precede them. (By extension, the term may be applied to all knowledge, perceptual and conceptual, to indicate that it is free of doubt.) A conclusion is "certain" when the evidence in its favor is conclusive; i.e., when it has been logically validated. At this stage, one has gone beyond "substantial" evidence. Rather, the total of the available evidence points in a single direction, and this evidence fulfills the standard of proof. In such a context, there is nothing to suggest even the possibility of another interpretation. There are, therefore, no longer any grounds for doubt" (OPAR 178-9).
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