  The negative task of combating error is not, however, sufficient. What is needed in addition, says Rosmini, is a ‘system of truth’, that is, a system which shows clearly how the passage is made from the most general, self-evident principles to more particular levels of knowledge. Knowledge-wise, we move instinctively from the more general to the particular. A mother does not begin by naming roses, carnation and other species for her children; she first indicates them all as ‘flowers’ before calling them by their particular names. So ‘being’, which is the most general of all notions, is the fundamental principle of human knowledge which draws together every aspect of being. When ‘being’ is seen as the supreme principle of unity on which all knowledge depends, truth—‘being as known’—has been systematised and is seen in all its beauty. Since, however, the full application of being is never seen once and for all, it is better to ensure adherence to principle than to grasp at unconnected facts which serve at best as a ragbag of erudition—better to grasp the principle of the wheel, for example, than to know only a number of its applications.