Definitions HQ

Proof (n.) must ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not persuade but convince; otherwise the intelligence is taken in, not won over.

A Proof (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠demonstrates nothing need not be useless; it can still lay bare how the faculty that produced it works.

A Proof (n.) of ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the lawyer's kind wins by exploiting an opponent's carelessness and a misreading of the law, building one's own unjust case on refuting the other side.

Proof (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠metaphysics, without the guideline of possible experience, runs wild like water breaking its banks, wherever hidden association happens to lead it.

A Proof (n.) should ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not be believed without documents for a well-grounded deduction, not even the clearest dogmatic one — there are too many false presumptions of reason amplifying our cognition.

A Proof (n.) of ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the transcendental kind can only be one for each proposition, since it proceeds solely from one concept; mathematics, working from intuition, can reach the same theorem by many paths.