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Logic Notes

This document defines categorical propositions and categorical syllogisms. It discusses: 1) The four types of categorical propositions - universal affirmative, universal negative, particular affirmative, and particular negative. 2) The standard form of categorical propositions involving quantifiers like "all" or "some" and copulas like "are" or "are not". 3) Key attributes of categorical propositions including quality, quantity, and distribution of terms. It also discusses the traditional square of opposition and relationships between propositions like contradiction and subalternation. 4) Common fallacies that can occur from incorrectly applying categorical syllogisms.

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Jed Díaz
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83 views

Logic Notes

This document defines categorical propositions and categorical syllogisms. It discusses: 1) The four types of categorical propositions - universal affirmative, universal negative, particular affirmative, and particular negative. 2) The standard form of categorical propositions involving quantifiers like "all" or "some" and copulas like "are" or "are not". 3) Key attributes of categorical propositions including quality, quantity, and distribution of terms. It also discusses the traditional square of opposition and relationships between propositions like contradiction and subalternation. 4) Common fallacies that can occur from incorrectly applying categorical syllogisms.

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Jed Díaz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LOGIC NOTES

I. CATEGORICAL PROPOSITIONS AND CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISMS


a. Definition of ‘Categorical Proposition’
A categorical proposition is a statement (either true or false) asserting that either all or
part of the class denoted by the subject term is included or excluded from the class
denoted by the predicate term.

b. Types of Categorical Propositions


1. Universal affirmative (A) – asserts that the whole subject class is included in the
predicate class
2. Universal negative (E) – asserts that the whole subject class is excluded in the
predicate class
3. Particular affirmative (I) – asserts that part of the subject class is included in the
predicate class
4. Universal negative (O) – asserts that part of the subject class is excluded in the
predicate class

- Tradition has it that the above designation were derived from the first two vowels in
the Latin words affirmo (I affirm) and nego (I deny).

c. Standard form
A categorical proposition is said to be in standard form if it expresses the above
relations with complete clarity, i.e. if and only if it is in any one of the following four
forms:
 All S are P.
 No S are P.
 Some S are P.
 Some S are not P.

Many categorical propositions are not in standard form, hence, we need to devise ways
to translate categorical propositions into standard form.

d. Parts of a standard-form categorical proposition


 Quantifier – specifies how much of the subject class is included in or
excluded from the predicate class (all, no, some)
 Copula – links the subject term and predicate term (are, are not)

- The form “All S are not P” is NOT in standard form as it is ambiguous and can be
rendered as either “No S are P” or “some S are not P”, depending on the content.
- There are exactly three forms of quantifiers and two forms of the copula, as
enumerated above.
e. Quality, Quantity, and Distribution

- Quality and quantity are attributes of propositions, whereas distribution is an


attribute of the terms themselves.

 Quality – refers to the attribute of a categorical proposition describing


whether it is affirmative or negative depending on whether it affirms or
denies class membership; for universals, this can be determined by
inspecting the quantifier, whereas for particulars, the quality of a categorical
proposition is determined by the copula.
 Quantity - refers to the attribute of a categorical proposition describing
whether it is affirmative or negative depending on whether it affirms or
denies class membership; determined by inspecting the copula.
 Distribution – a term is said to be distributed if the proposition makes an
assertion about every member of the class denoted by the term; else it is
undistributed.
o In universal affirmative, the subject term is distributed, but the
predicate is not.
o In universal negative, both the subject term and predicate term are
distributed.
o In particular affirmative, neither the subject term nor the predicate
term is distributed.
o In particular negative, the predicate term is distributed but not the
subject term.

f. The Traditional Square of Opposition

 Contradictory – opposite truth values


 Contrary – at least one is false; cannot be both true
 Subcontrary – at least one is true; cannot be both false
 Subalternation – immediate inference (premise followed immediately by
conclusion) bet. A and I and E and O.
Incorrect application of the above results in fallacies (illicit X, where X is the
relationship of the categorical proposition)

g. Syllogistic fallacies
 Four term fallacy (quaternio terminorum)
 Fallacy of undistributed middle
 Illicit major (affirmative conclusion from a negative premise)
 Illicit minor

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