I.

Since then, language is a medium in communicating with other people. It is

important especially in defining terms that are common and not common. The
definition of terms through language is an easy way to be more effective and
understandable for everyone. Terms, language and definition are connected to
each other so that, the exact meaning may be delivered properly.

Term is a word that has a precise meaning. Language is the system of

communication used by a particular community or country. Definition is the act of
defining, or of making something definite, distinct or clear. Moreover, defining a
term in a detailed explanation by using a common language makes it very simple
to a person to understand it.

There are different terms, language and definition that are used in our society.
These can be the same or different from one place to another. The essence of
language in defining terms is to be able to understand by many. It has something
to deal with the person who understands the meaning. Thus, belonging to a
common group is having an effective social communication.

The TERM in Logic

BASICALLY, THE SUBJECT MATTER in studying Logic is argument. Argument
comprises statements or propositionsand propositions necessarily contain terms. Hence,
studying Logic formally starts with the study of term.

Concept, idea, word, and term

One of our basic mental operations issimple apprehension. Our intellect apprehends or abstracts
the nature or essential qualities (essence) of the things we perceive. The product of this mental
function is called concept. Hence, we have a concept of a dog, for instance, which refers to our
intellectual image or grasp of an animal called dog.
            Though some logicians and epistemologists regard concept and idea as synonymous, the two
have distinct meanings in the sense that concept is made up of ideas.
            A word is the simplest unit of written or spoken language. It is the fundamental medium of
communication. Without words, sentences and statements cannot be constructed. When employed
to express an idea or group of ideas (concept), a word or group of words (phrases) is called term.
A term is the oral or written representation of an idea or group of ideas (concept). It is also the
basic component of a statement.
 The proposition The former president of the Philippines is a woman, for instance, contains two
terms: the former president of the Philippines andwoman. Woman is a word used to express an
idea. This is an example of a simple term, that is, a single word term. The phrase the former vice-
president of the Philippines is a group of words used to express an idea or concept. This exemplifies
a complex term—a term which is a group of words representing one concept.
          While terms are automatically words, words are not necessarily terms.  In the statement
above, is is a word but is not a term. Many other words have no referents, and hence are words but
not terms, such as or, only, from, through, out, etc.
          Word therefore is not synonymous with term for not all words are terms. And as distinct
from concept, word is made up of letters whereas concept is made up of ideas.
Intension (Comprehension) and Extension of terms
Our mind has the ability and function to abstract the common qualities or features present in some
things perceived by our senses. In our observation, for example, we see some animals exhibiting
distinct attributes common to all alike. We cluster the more noticeable of these characteristics into a
concept—for instance, that of a dog. Every time we encounter an animal displaying such qualities, we
term it a dog.
            The set of attributes or traits that members of a term possess is called theintension or
comprehension of a term. Dog, for example, is an animal, a mammal, a living organism, a
sentient being. The intension includes not only the essential qualities but also those deducible from
them. Being an animal, a dog, for instance, can multiply. Being a living organism, someday it will die.
            Extension of a term, on the other hand,refers to the totality of individuals or classes to
which the intension is applicable. Dalmatians, canines, etc., and any literal dog are extension of the
simple term dog.
Many philosophers are now using the words connotation and denotation to
signifyintension and extension respectively.
          The intension and extension of terms are inversely related to each other. The greater the
intension of a term, the lesser its extension, and vice-versa. A young dog for instance, stands as an
intension of the term puppy. If we add Dalmatian to the intension, then the extension is reduced for
it does not involve non-Dalmatian puppies. If we further increase the intension by adding newly
born, the extension then decreases all the more for it now excludes those young Dalmatian dogsthat
are not newly born. Logically therefore, if we lessen the intension, the result would be the increase in
the extension.
 
Kinds of terms
In these various classifications of terms, a term might receive a place in each of the classes since
categorizations are based on different aspects:

A. According to quantity/extension: Singular, Particular, Universal, and Collective Terms

1. A term is singular if it refers to only one individual or thing. The indicators of singularity are:
a. proper nouns/ proper names, such as Tokyo, Michael Jordan, Air Force One
b. superlatives, such as the best actor, the most corrupt official,  the highest scorer
c. demonstrative adjectives/pronouns, such as this book, that room, that teacher, this student
d. personal pronouns, I, he, you, she, her, etc. (as long as they definitely stand for one specific
person)
e. the definite article “the”/specific modifiers such as, the lady in red

2. A term is particular if it stands for an indefinite part of a whole. In Logic, a term is

considered particular if it represents “at least one but not all” of the individuals composing a class.
The following indicates particularity:
a. indefinite pronouns/adjectives (some, many, several, few, most, certain) e.g.some singers,
several songs, many questions, few answers
b. indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ used in particular contexts, e.g. a helicopter, an airplane
c. number modifiers, e.g. 7 dwarfs, 2 princesses
d. modifiers such as majority, almost all, generally all, nearly all, e.g. majority of the congressmen,
almost all administrators, generally all believers
e. Subject terms in propositions that are true to only some of the denotations of the term,
e.g. Belgians are religious; Men have sense of chivalry.

3. A term is general or universal if it refers to all individuals signified by the term.The following

indicates universality:
a. universal affirmative quantifiers such as, all, each, every, any, everything, everyone, anything,
anyone, whatever, whichever, whenever, wherever, whoever, e.g. all countries, every citizen, each
blogger, any amount, anything new, whatever answer
b. universal negative modifiers such as, no, none, no one, nothing, nobody, never, etc., e.g. no
American, nothing small, nobody wise
c. indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ (when taken to refer to all denotations of the term), e.g. A man is a
rational being.

4. A term is collective if itrefers to a group of individuals considered as a single unit. Collective

nouns such as audience, committee, crowd, flock, government,jury, gang, and orchestra are
collective terms. A collective term may be universal, (e.g. squad, all squads, every
squad), particular (e.g., some family, several crowds), or singular (e.g. this jury).
Collective term is not applicable to the objects taken singly and individually, unless
used figuratively. The term family, as an example, is collective, since it is predicable of the family
members taken collectively, and not individually.

B. According to quality: affirmative and negative

1. A term is affirmative or positive if it expresses what is real, true, or essential of a thing,
e.g. existence, life, and optimism. A term is also affirmative when it affirms the presence of
desirable traits, e.g. just, honest, and active.
            There are two kinds of affirmative term: a) positive in form, positive in meaning (the
above-mentioned examples fall under this kind); and b) negative in form, positive in meaning,
e.g. blameless, spotless, unblemished, untarnished, infinite, immortal, guiltless

2. A term is negative if it indicates the non-appearance of some trait, e.g. unjust, sickly,

inactive, death, immorality.
There are two kinds of negative term: a) negative in form, negative in meaning, e.g. unjust,
inactive, immoral, impotent; and b) positive in form, negative in meaning, e.g. mistake,
death, evil, oppression, chaos.

C.According to Origin: Immediate and Mediate

1.Immediate terms are formed through direct perception of things.
e.g. bag, pencil, ball pen, yellow paper, cellphone
2. Mediate terms are formed indirectly, that is, through the mediation of other ideas.
e.g. God, soul, spirit, universe

D.According to the nature of referents:Concrete, Abstract, Logical, and Null

1. A term is concrete if its referent is tangible or can be perceived by the senses.e.g. tree, chalk,
spoon, belt, pants, arms. Concrete term also refers to that which indicates a quality or
characteristic as inherent in a subject. eg.: black, big, tall.
2. A term is abstract if its referent is intangible or can be understood only by the mind and cannot
be perceived by the senses. e.g. freedom, democracy, faith, love, patriotism, compassion,
sacrifice. Abstract term also refers to the quality or characteristic considered independently from
the subject in which it inheres. e.g. blackness, redness, kindness
3. A term is logical if it was formulated to serve as linguistic device to aid learning. e.g. copula,
subject, predicate, velocity, momentum, phylum
4. A term is null or empty if it has no actual or real referents but is only imaginary. e.g. unicorn,
fairy, elf, dragon, batman, spiderman, superman, x-men, dragon

E. According to definiteness of meaning:Univocal, Equivocal, and Analogous

1. A term is univocal if it exhibits exactly identical sense and meaning in different incidents.For
example, we say Canines are dogs andDalmatians are dogs. Theterm dogs is univocal, unless we
give a different meaning in any of the term dogs in the statements.
                Ex. Peter is a man. – Paul is a man; teacher’s table – dining table; leavesof coconut
– leaves of mahogany.

2. A term is equivocal when it indicates entirely different meanings in different occurrences.In the

statements, Stars are heavenly bodies and Nicolas Cage and Brad Pitt are stars, the
term stars is equivocal for the meaning of the term starsin the first statement is different from that
of the second. An equivocal term thus is not one but two terms.
          Other examples: pitcher (player) – pitcher (water container); base (camp) – base (lower
part); spring  of water – spring  of a machine; bark of a tree – bark of a dog

3. A term is analogous when it shows partly identical and partly distinct meanings in different
occurrences. In the phrases head of a man and head of a family, the terms head in some sense are
similar but nonetheless different in some aspects.
          Other examples: healthy man – healthy diet; leg of man – leg of a chair; footof a man
– foot of a mountain
F. According to relation:Compatible and Incompatible(Contradictory, Contrary,
Relative,andPrivative)
1.Compatible terms are terms that can coexist in a subject, that is, there is no logical obstacle for
them to be present in a subject at the same time.
e.g. tall and handsome, dark and rich, slowly and surely, simple and elegant, sweet and sour

2. Incompatible terms are terms that cannot coexist in a subject for they rule out each other. The
following are kinds of incompatible terms:
a) Contradictory terms are two terms, one of which negates the other.Contradictories are so
mutually exclusive that there is no middle ground or third possibility between them.
e.g. edible – non-edible; being – nothing; existent – non-existent; life – lifeless
b) Contrary terms are terms that belong to the same class but deny each other. Between these
terms, there is/are middle ground/s.When some said that her girlfriend is not black, it is not safe to
conclude that he must be white, for he may be brown or yellow. White and black therefore are
contrary (not contradictory) terms.
Other examples: elated—depressed, hard—easy, hot – cold, happy – sad, long – short, genius—
idiot.
c) Privative terms are terms wherein one indicates the presence of a quality or perfection while the
other signifies the absence or lack of it.
e.g. good – evil, truth—falsity, health – sickness, wealth – poverty, sight – blindness
d) Correlative terms are two opposed terms wherein one cannot be understood without the
other.In their meaning, they imply reference to one another.
e.g. husband – wife, interviewer – interviewee, parent – child, master – servant, teacher – pupil,
leader – follower

The Supposition of term

In the statements, Bella is a dog, Dog is spelled d-o-g, Dog is a sentient being,Dog has three letters,
and A dog sleeps under the table, the common denominator is the term dog. Yet, it has different
meanings for it is used in different ways in the propositions. The various functions of a term in the
proposition is called the supposition of term. Medieval philosophers developed supposition theory in
the late twelfth century to identify the specific usage and meaning of a term in various propositional
contexts. Latin logicians called the different uses of the term itssuppositiones, (from sup ponere, 'to
stand for').

Collective and Distributive Supposition.

            The people assembled themselves together in the chapel.
            The people voted in the election.
            Both of these statements have the collective term people as their subject. The
terms people however differ in supposition.
            In a sentence with plural or collective subject (e.g. people), when the predicate applies to the
members of the subject, taken separately, the subject term is said to have distributive
supposition (suppositio distributiva). Such is the case in the first statement.When the predicate
applies to members of the subjecttaken as a group, the supposition is collective (suppositio
collectiva).

Real and Logical Supposition

When the term is used to refer to the object as it is in the real order, the supposition is
real (suppositio realis). When used to denote the object as it is in the conceptual order, the term has
logical or formal supposition (suppositio logica).
 Thus, the term the president of the Philippines in the statement The president of the Philippines is
at Malacañang has real supposition, while in The president of the Philippines is the subject of the
sentence, the term has logical supposition.

Personal and material supposition

A term has personal supposition when it is employed to talk about the object or person it represents,
for example, dog in Ed is feeding the dog. When a word is taken to signify simply its inscription or
utterance, it is in its material supposition(suppositio materialis). e.g. Dog has three letters.

http://ourhappyschool.com/philosophy/term-logic