The Art of Detection—does it have to do with Sherlock Holmes?
It does indeed since it is simply the art of finding and following clues.
Why do we follow clues? What can clues do for us?
People follow clues for all kinds of reasons. Some of these, clues can satisfy; some not. But our immediate aim in following clues should be the reconstruction of those structures from which the clues flow. Once these structures are in place, we can then see if the knowledge gained from them can satisfy our personal reasons for pursuing them in the first place.
Can you give an example to make clearer what you mean?
Suppose you go to Sherlock Holmes with this request: ‘Mr. Holmes, my funds are limited. In order that I do not take up too much of your time, can you find out just one thing for me in regard to this murder that has happened? I just want to know whether the butler is the murderer and that’s all. I am willing to pay for this and I can. But don’t waste time on the maid, the footman, the master of the house, or anybody else. I am not interested in them and I don’t have enough funds to pay you for them.’ Would Sherlock Holmes accept such a commission?
Clearly he would not. A murder is a structured event. People with a motive might kill; people without, are not likely to. So Sherlock Holmes will look for possible motives as clues. But knowing the motive will not be sufficient: Sherlock Holmes will have to look for other clues, which flow from this structured event we call the murder. When Sherlock Holmes has enough clues he will be able to reconstruct the crime. After that he can tell you who the murderer is, not before. The crime is a structured event. Sherlock Holmes’s aim in following clues is to reconstruct this event, if not completely then at least, as he says, ‘in essentials’. Sherlock Holmes cannot answer the question whether the butler is the murderer in the absence of such a reconstruction. Clues allow us to reconstruct hidden structures but they cannot answer questions in isolation.
What do you mean by ‘hidden’?
To answer this question, let’s use Sherlock Holmes again as example. When Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate a crime the crime has already taken place. When it was happening Sherlock Holmes was not there to witness it. He could be miles and miles away, not having the faintest idea that this particular crime was occurring. But people want to know what happened during the crime; they want to know who is responsible; so they hire Sherlock Holmes. They hire him to find out something about which neither they nor Sherlock Holmes have any direct knowledge. This is what I mean by ‘hidden’. When we follow clues we want to find out things hidden from us, things of which we have no direct knowledge.
You mean to say things hidden can be known?!
Yes; the reason why we follow clues. When things are obvious we do not need to follow clues; we follow clues only when things are not obvious; which is to say, when they are hidden.
Where does the name ‘The Art of Detection’ come from?
The name comes from Sherlock Holmes himself. In The Adventure of the Abbey Grange Sherlock Holmes was complaining to Watson that he, Watson, in his attempt to please readers, was not paying sufficient attention to the finer points of his art, that is, the art that Sherlock Holmes practises as a detective. As remedy he proposes to spend his retirement years ‘in the composition of a textbook which shall focus the whole Art of Detection into one volume.’
One Clue, Two Clues, Generations of New Clues 