CATEGORICAL

PROPOSITIONS
​
TODAY’S RAPPORT

Let’s be disloyal…
THE FOUR KINDS OF CATEGORICAL
PROPOSITIONS

There are four and only four kinds of standard-form categorical propositions.
Here are examples of each of the four kinds:

1. All politicians are liars.

2. No politicians are liars.
3. Some politicians are liars.
4. Some politicians are not liars.
1. Universal affirmative propositions. In these we assert that the whole of
one class is included or contained in another class. “All politicians are liars”
is an example; it asserts that every member of one class, the class of
politicians, is a member of another class, the class of liars. Any universal
affirmative proposition can be written schematically as
All S is P
where the letters S and P represent the subject and predicate terms, respectively.
Such a proposition affirms that the relation of class inclusion
holds between the two classes and says that the inclusion is complete, or
universal. All members of S are said to be also members of P. Propositions
in this standard form are called universal affirmative propositions.
They are also called A propositions
2. Universal negative propositions. The second example above, “No politicians are liars,” is a
proposition in which it is denied, universally, that any member of the class of politicians is a member of
the class of liars. It asserts that the subject class, S, is wholly excluded from the
predicate class, P. Schematically, categorical propositions of this kind can be written as
No S is P
where again S and P represent the subject and predicate terms. This kind of proposition denies the relation
of inclusion between the two terms, and denies it universally. It tells us that no members of S are
members of P. Propositions in this standard form are
called universal negative propositions. They are also called E propositions.
Particular affirmative propositions. The third example above, “Some
politicians are liars,” affirms that some members of the class of all politicians
are members of the class of all liars. But it does not affirm this of
politicians universally. Only some particular politician or politicians are
said to be liars. This proposition does not affirm or deny anything about
the class of all politicians; it makes no pronouncements about that entire
class. Nor does it say that some politicians are not liars, although in
some contexts it may be taken to suggest that. The literal and exact
interpretation
of this proposition is the assertion that the class of politicians
and the class of liars have some member or members in common. That
is what we understand this standard-form proposition to mean.
“Some” is an indefinite term. Does it mean “at least one,” “at least
two,” or “at least several”? How many does it mean? Context might affect
our understanding of the term as it is used in everyday speech, but logicians,
for the sake of definiteness, interpret “some” to mean “at least one.”
Aparticular affirmative proposition may be written schematically as

Some S is P.

This proposition is called I proposition.

4. Particular negative propositions. The fourth example above, “Some
politicians are not liars,” like the third, does not refer to politicians universally,
but only to some member or members of that class; it is
particular. Unlike the third example, however, it does not affirm the inclusion
of some member or members of the first class in the second
class; this is precisely what is denied. It is written schematically as
Some S is not P.
which says that at least one member of the class designated by the subject
term S is excluded from the whole of the class designated by the
predicate term P. The denial is not universal. Propositions in this standard
form are called particular negative propositions. They are also called
O propositions.
 QUALITY, QUANTITY, AND
DISTRIBUTION
A. Quality
Every standard-form categorical proposition either affirms, or denies, some
class relation, as we have seen. If the proposition affirms some class inclusion,
whether complete or partial, its quality is affirmative. So the A proposition, “All
S is P,” and the I proposition, “Some S is P,” are both affirmative in quality.
Their letter names, A and I, are thought to come from the Latin word,
“AffIrmo,” meaning “I affirm.” If the proposition denies class inclusion,
whether complete or partial, its quality is negative. So the E proposition, “No S
is P,” and the O proposition, “Some S is not P,” are both negative in quality.
Their letter names, E and O, are thought to come from the Latin word, “nEgO,”
meaning “I deny.” Every categorical proposition has one quality or the other affirmative or negative.
B. Quantity
Every standard-form categorical proposition has some class as its subject. If the
proposition refers to all members of the class designated by its subject term, its
quantity is universal. So the A proposition, “All S is P,” and the E proposition,
“No S is P,” are both universal in quantity. If the proposition refers only to some
members of the class designated by its subject term, its quantity is particular. So
the I proposition, “Some S is P,” and the O proposition, “Some S is not P,” are
both particular in quantity.
C. General Schema of Standard-Form Categorical Propositions
Between the subject and predicate terms of every standard-form categorical
proposition occurs some form of the verb “to be.” This verb (accompanied by
“not” in the case of the O proposition) serves to connect the subject and predicate
terms and is called the copula.
Quantifier (subject term) copula (predicate term).

Some soldiers will not be heroes

Some Roman emperors were monsters

D. Distribution :
An attribute that describes the relationship between a categorical proposition and each one of its
terms, indicating whether or not the proposition makes a statement about every member of the class
represented by a given term.

In the A proposition (e.g., “All senators are citizens”): In this proposition,

“senators” is distributed, but “citizens” is not. In A propositions (universal affirmatives)
the subject term is distributed, but the predicate term is undistributed
In the E proposition (e.g., “No athletes are vegetarians”): The subject
term, “athletes,” is distributed, because the whole class of athletes is said to be
excluded from the class of vegetarians. However, in asserting that the whole
class of athletes is excluded from the class of vegetarians, it is also asserted that
the whole class of vegetarians is excluded from the class of athletes. Of each and
every vegetarian, the proposition says that he or she is not an athlete. Unlike an
A proposition, therefore, an E proposition refers to all members of the class designated
by its predicate term, and therefore also distributes its predicate term. E
propositions (universal negatives) distribute both their subject and their predicate
terms.
In the I proposition (e.g., “Some soldiers are cowards”): No assertion is
made about all soldiers in this proposition, and no assertion is made about all
cowards either. It says nothing about each and every soldier, and nothing about
each and every coward. Neither class is wholly included, or wholly excluded,
from the other. In I propositions (particular affirmatives) both subject and predicate
terms are undistributed
In the O proposition (e.g., “Some cows are not Holstein Friesian”):
Nothing is said about all cows. The proposition refers to some members of the
class designated by the subject term: it says, of this part of the class of cows, that
it is excluded from the class of all Holstein Friesian. But all Holstein Friesian are definitely cow.
Thus in O propositions (particular
negatives) the subject term is not distributed, but the predicate term is distributed.