Full Idea
A rule is amended if it yields an inference we are unwilling to accept; an inference is rejected if it violates a rule we are unwilling to amend.
Gist of Idea
If the result is bad, we change the rule; if we like the rule, we reject the result
Source
Nelson Goodman (Fact, Fiction and Forecast (4th ed) [1954], p.64)
Book Reference
Goodman,Nelson: 'Fact, Fiction and Forecast (4th ed)' [Harvard 1983], p.64
A Reaction
This is clearly in tune with Quine's assertion that logic is potentially revisable, and the idea is pragmatist in spirit. It is hard to deny that intuitions about what makes a good argument control our logic. I say the world controls our intuitions.