Introduction to Logic

Submitted By: Saad Ghaus Dyal

Submitted to: Mam Iqra Aziz
Reg, No: 19-ARID-3484
Assignment No: 2

Assignment Topic: Categorical propositions

Barani Institute of Sciences Sahiwal

2021
Categorical proposition
In logic, a categorical proposition, or categorical statement, is a proposition that asserts or denies
that all or some of the members of one category are included in another. A proposition that
relates two classes, or categories, is called a categorical proposition. The classes in question are
denoted respectively by the subject term and the predicate term, and the proposition asserts
that either all or part of the class denoted by the subject term is included in or excluded from the
class denoted by the predicate term.

Examples:
Pakistan Idol contestants hope for recognition.
Junk foods do not belong in college cafeterias.
The first statement asserts that the entire class of Pakistan idol contestants is included in the class
of people who hope for recognition, the second that the entire class of junk foods is excluded
from the class of things that belong in college cafeterias.

Standard-form Categorical Proposition

A categorical proposition that expresses these relations with complete clarity is called a
standard-form categorical proposition.
“Every S is P,” “No S is P,” “Some S is P,” and “Some S is not P.”

Quantifiers:-
Quantifiers is defined as the words “all,” “no,” and “some” are called quantifiers because they
specify that how much of the subject class is included in or excluded from the predicate class.

Copula:-
The letters S and P stand respectively for the subject and predicate terms, and the words “are”
and “are not” are called the copula because they link (or “couple”) the subject term with the
predicate term.

For example:
All members of the Pakistan Medical Association are people holding degrees from recognized
academic institutions.

Subject Term
Subject term is defined as the subject of the proposition. Predicate Term - the predicate of the
proposition. Copula - the verb connecting the subject and predicate terms.

Quality
The quality of a categorical proposition is either affirmative or negative depending on whether it
affirms or denies class membership. Accordingly, “All S are P” and “Some S are P” have
affirmative quality, and “No S are P” and “Some S are not P” have negative quality. These are
called affirmative propositions and negative propositions,

Universal affirmative proposition

Universal affirmative proposition is defined as universal affirmative proposition (to which,
following the practice of medieval logicians, we will refer by the letter “A“) is of the form.
All S are P. Such a proposition asserts that every member of the class designated by the subject
term is also included in the class designated by the predicate term.
For Example:
All dogs are animal.

Universal negative
“Every B is not an a,” or equivalently “No B is an a.” Particular affirmative: “Some B is an a.”
Particular negative: “Some B is not an a.” Indefinite affirmative: “B is an a.” Indefinite negative:
“B is not an a.”
For example:
All cats are not animals.

Particular Affirmative
Particular affirmative is defined as the particular affirmative states that there are members of the
subject in the predicate category. The proposition does not rule out the possibility that all
members of the subject are members of the predicate category.

Particular Negative
Particular negative is defined as it states that there are some members of the subject that are not
in the predicate category. The proposition does not rule out the possibility that no members of
the subject are members of the predicate category.

Venn diagram and the modern square of opposition

Venn diagrams
Venn diagram is defined as it consist of two or three intersecting circles, each representing a
class and each labeled with an uppercase letter. Two-circle Venn diagrams are used to represent
categorical propositions, whose logical relations were first studied systematically by Aristotle.
Venn diagrams are named after John Venn who introduced this visual organizer in a paper in
1880.
The diagram for the traditional square of opposition is:

Existential Import:
In syllogistic, the logical implication by a universal proposition (a proposition of the form “All
S is P” or “No S is P”) of the corresponding particular statement (“Some S is P” or “Some S is
not P,” respectively).

Example:
All Angelina Julie movies are hits.
All elephant are two-horned animal

Aristotelian standpoint
Aristotle does not believe that the purpose of logic is to prove that human beings can have
knowledge. (He dismisses excessive skepticism.) The aim of logic is the elaboration of a
coherent system that allows us to investigate, classify, and evaluate good and bad forms of
reasoning.
Example:
All pheasants are birds. Implies the existence of pheasants.
No pine trees are maples. Implies the existence of pine trees.
The first two statements have existential import because their subject terms denote actually
existing things. The third statement has no existential import, because satyrs do not exist.

Boolean standpoint
The Boolean standpoint interprets no universal (A and E) categorical propositions as having
existential import. Therefore, according to the Boolean interpretation, universal propositions do
not imply the existence of the things denoted by the subject term.

Example:
All trucks are vehicles. Does not imply the existence of trucks.
No roses are daisies. Does not imply the existence of roses.

The Modern Square of Opposition

The square of opposition, under this Boolean set of assumptions, is often called the modern
Square of opposition. In the modern square of opposition, A and O claims are contradictories, as
are E and I, but all other forms of opposition cease to hold; there are no contraries, subcontraries,
or subalterns.

Testing Immediate Inferences

It stated that in immediate inference is a case where a single premise allows us to draw a
necessary conclusion. The clearest cases of immediate inference are demonstrated by the Square
of opposition.

Example:
Some trade spies are not mastering at bribery.
Therefore, it is false that all trade spies are masters at bribery

Conversion observation and contraposition:

Conversion, observation, and contraposition are operations that can be performed on a
categorical proposition, resulting in a new statement that may or may not have the same meaning
and truth value as the original statement. Venn diagrams are used to determine how the two
statements relate to each other.

Conversion:
The simplest of the three operations is conversion, and it consists in switching the subject term
with the predicate term.
For example, if the statement “No rabbits are hedgehogs” is converted, the resulting statement is
“No hedgehogs are rabbits.” This new statement is called the converse of the given statement

Observation
The logical positivists called “observation sentences,” whose meaning derives from their direct
connection with experience and specifically from the fact that they are reports of experience. The
meaning of an expression smaller than a sentence is similarly dependent on experience.
Example:
An example of observation is the watching of Haley's Comet. An example of observation is
making the statement that a teacher is proficient from watching him teach several times.

Contraposition
Like observation, contraposition requires two steps:
(1) Switching the subject and predicate terms.
(2) Replacing the subject and predicate terms with their term complements.
For example,
If the statement “All goats are animals” is contraposed, the resulting statement is “All non-
animals are non-goats.” This new statement is called the contrapositive of the given statement.

Traditional Square of Opposition

The traditional square of opposition is an arrangement of lines that illustrates logically
necessary relations among the four kinds of categorical propositions. However, because the
Aristotelian standpoint recognizes the additional factor of existential import, the traditional
square supports more inferences than does the modern square.
Contradictory = opposite truth value
Contrary = at least one is false (not both true)
Sub contrary = at least one is true (not both false)
Sub alternation = truth flows downward, falsity flows upward

Sub contrary relation

Two statements are sub contrary if they are both particular statements that differ in quality. Sub
contraries may at the same time both be true, but cannot at the same time both be false.

Sub alternation relation

The sub alternation relation is represented by two arrows: a downward arrow marked with the
letter T (true), and an upward arrow marked with an F (false). These arrows can be thought of as
pipelines through which truth values “flow.”

Translating ordinary language statements into Categorical Form:

Although few statements that occur in ordinary written and oral expression are categorical
propositions in standard form, many of them can be translated into standard-form propositions.
Such translation has two chief benefits. The first is that the operations and inferences pertinent to
standard-form categorical propositions (contrary, sub contrary, etc.) become applicable to
these statements. The second is that such statements, once translated, are completely clear and
unambiguous as to their meaning.

Terms without Nouns

The subject and predicate terms of a categorical proposition must contain either a plural noun or
a pronoun that serves to denote the class indicated by the term. Nouns and pronouns denote
classes, while adjectives (and participles) connote attributes. If a term consists of only an
adjective, a plural noun or pronoun should be introduced to make the term genuinely denotative.

Examples:
Some roses are red.
Some roses are red flowers.

Nonstandard Verbs
According to the position adopted earlier in this chapter, the only copulas that are allowed in
standard-form categorical propositions are “are” and “are not.”
Statements in ordinary usage, however, often incorporate other forms of the verb “to be.”

For Example:
Some university students will become educated
Some college students are people who become educated.

Singular Propositions
A singular proposition (statement) is a proposition that makes an assertion about a specific
person, place, thing, or time. Singular propositions are typically translated into universals by
means of a parameter. A parameter is a phrase that, when introduced into a statement, affects
the form but not the meaning.
For Example:
George went home.
All people identical to George are people who went home

Adverbs and Pronouns

When a statement contains a spatial adverb such as “where,” “wherever,” “anywhere,”
“everywhere,” or “nowhere,” or a temporal adverb such as “when,” “whenever,” “anytime,”
“always,” or “never,” it may be translated in terms of “places” or “times,” respectively.
Statements containing pronouns such as “who,” “whoever,” “anyone,” “what,” “whatever,” or
“anything” may be translated in terms of “people” or “things,” respectively.

Examples:
He always wears a suit to work.
All times he goes to work are times he wears a suit.

Unexpressed Quantifiers
Many statements in ordinary usage have quantifiers that are implied but not expressed. In
introducing the quantifiers, one must be guided by the most probable meaning of the statement.

Examples:
Emeralds are green gems.
All emeralds are green gems.
There are lions in the zoo.
Some lions are animals in the zoo.

Nonstandard Quantifiers
In some ordinary language statements, the quantity is indicated by words other than the three
standard-form quantifiers. Such words include “few,” “a few,” “not every,” “anyone,” and
various other forms. Another problem occurs when the quantifier “all” is combined with the
copula “are not.”

For Example:
A few soldiers are heroes.
Some soldiers are heroes.
Anyone who votes is a citizen.
All voters are citizens
Conditional Statements
When the antecedent and consequent of a conditional statement refer to the same class of things,
the statement can usually be translated into categorical form. Such statements are always
translated as universals. Language following the word “if” goes in the subject term of the
categorical proposition, and language following “only if” goes in the predicate term.

Examples:
If it’s a mouse, then it’s a mammal.
All mice are mammals.
If a bear is hungry, then it is dangerous.
All hungry bears are dangerous animals

Exclusive Propositions
Many propositions that involve the words “only,” “none but,” “none except,” and “no . . .
except” are exclusive propositions. Efforts to translate them into categorical propositions often
lead to confusing the subject term with the predicate term.

For Example:
Only elected officials will attend the convention.
All people who will attend the convention are elected officials.
None but the brave deserves the fair.
All people who deserve the fair are brave people.

The Only
Statements beginning with the words “the only” are translated differently from those beginning
with “only.” For example, the statement “Th e only cars that are available are Chevrolets” means
“If a car is available, then it is a Chevrolet.” Th is in turn is translated as “All cars that are
available are Chevrolets.” In other words, language following “the only” goes in the subject term
of the categorical proposition.

Examples: The only animals that live in this canyon are skunks
All animals that live in this canyon are skunks.

Exceptive Propositions
Propositions of the form “All except S are P” and “All but S are P” are exceptive propositions.
They must be translated not as single categorical propositions but as pairs of conjoined
categorical propositions. Statements that include the phrase “none except,” on the other hand, are
exclusive (not exceptive) propositions. “None except” is synonymous with “none but.”
For Example:
All except students are invited.
No students are invited people, and all nonstudents are invited people