Existential Import: Dr. Anupam Yadav
Existential Import: Dr. Anupam Yadav
Existential Import: Dr. Anupam Yadav
BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus
Dr. Anupam Yadav
Boolean Interpretation of Categorical
Propositions
Existential Import
•Some propositions have existential import
•A proposition is said to have existential import if it typically is
uttered to asserted the existence of objects of some kind.
I & O propositions do have EI.
•‘Some soldiers are heroes’ & ‘Some dogs are not
companions’ – The classes designated by their subject terms
are not empty.
•There is a problem. If I and O follow from A & E by
subalternation they also have EI; for, a proposition that has EI
cannot be derived from the one that does not have.