Chapter 3 Propositions and Judgment

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In the previous chapter, we discussed about simple apprehension, the first act of the mind
through which ideas are formed. In this chapter, we shall discuss judgement, which is the
second act of the mind.

Preposition and Judgement

A proposition consists of terms, which refer to words or group of words that expresses an idea.
It is also an expression of judgement. Judgement is an act of the mind that unites at least two
ideas by affirming their agreement or separates by negating their agreement. Judgement can
only be said of propositions but not of terms, because judgement pertains to truth and falsity
and propositions are said to be true or false. This is why propositions are considered the
building blocks of judgement.

Truth Values

Truth and Falsity are two truth values of a proposition. A proposition or statement is any
sentence that either affirms or denies something and is either true or false but not both. Since
a proposition or statement or statement is either true or false but not both, it implies that
sentences that are in the form of questions, commands or request, suggestions or proposals,
and exclamations are not propositions or statements. In short, indicative sentences qualify as
propositions or statements while interrogative and imperative statements do not.

Example:

All artists are creative. (True)

Horses are philosophers. (False)
May I have your cellphone number? (request)
Do not block the driveway. (order)
My goodness! (exclamation!)
Where I'd the graduate school library? (question)
Let us see a movie tonight. (proposal or suggestion)

The first sentence is true while the second is false. Since only the first two sentences have
truth values,there are also the only prepositions. The rest are not propositions bacause they
are neither true nor false.
Logical Truth Values and Factual Truth Values

A proposition is either true or false. But its truth or falsity may be either be logical or factual.
Thefactual truth or falsity of a statement is of course solely based on its agreement with facts, that
is, its correspondence to objective reality.

Statements that are factually true or factually false are called synthetic statement. Synthetic
statements are also called as a posteriori, experimental, contingent, conditional, or physical. The
logical truth or falsity of a statement is based on reason, principle, or a general definition. A logical
true or false statement is called analytic statement. Analytic statements are also called a prior,
necessary, absolute, or metaphysical.
Proposition Analytic or Synthetic Factually True/False

Logically True/False

Fuel prices are rapidly increasing Synthetic Factually True

All men are immortal Synthetic Factually False

All widows are women Analytic Logical True

A circle has four equal sides Analytic Logically False

The first two propositions under the first column are synthetic statements because their
truth or falsity can be proven on the basis of facts. The last two propositions are analytic the truth
and falsity of which can be proven on the basis of reason or principle.

The Predicable

The classification of the possible relations by which the predicate stands in relation to the
subject is called the predicable. Aristotle discovered that there are only five modes of predication or
predicable.

Three predicable namely, genus, differentia, and species, express the essential relation
between the subject and predicate. The remaining two are property and accident.

1. Genus is a mode of predication in which the predicate represents an essence of the subject which
it has in common with others under the same class.

Example: dogs are sentient. That being “sentient” is shared by dogs with all animals.
2. Differentia or Specific Difference is a mode of predication in which the predicate signifies the
essence of the subject that differentiates it from all others under the same class
Example: Man is rational. Being “rational” distinguishes man from all animals.

3. Species is a mode of predication in which the predicate represents the whole essence of the
subject, that is, its genus and differentia.
Example: Man is a rational animal. "Rational" refers to the diferentia while animal represents
the genus. "Rational Animal" refers to the species.

4. Property is a role of predication in which the predicate stands for something emnates from
the essence of the subject.

Example: Mr. John Zabala is a poet.

5. Accident is a mode of predication in which the predicate represents something that does not
flow from the essence of the subject.
Example: Dr. Ester B. Vasquez is the president of Cebu Normal University. The

Elements of Proposition

Every categorical proposition consist of three basic elements: the Subject term, the Predicate
term, and the Copula. The subject and predicate term constitutes the material element of
judgment while the copula is the formal element.

The subject term denotes a person or a thing about which something is affirmed or denied. The
predicate term is that which is affirmed or denied of the subject. The copula is a linking verb,
indicative mood of the verb "to be" because it serves to connect the subject and the predicate. It
is rendered on the present tense by virtue of the fact that a proposition expresses judgment
which is a present act of the mind. So the possible forms of copula are the following: is, am and
are. Some authors though prefers to use "was and were" especially for propositions that
contains historical facts, like, " Julius Caesar was a great Roman emperor".

There is a difference between the logical subject and the grammatical subject.

Example: Levi loves white chocolates.

The grammatical subject is "Levi" but the logical subject is "white chocolates". Why? Because
nothing is affirmed or denied of "Levi". Therefore it is not the logical subject. Instead, the logical
subject is "white chocolates".

Logical Form of Proposition

To prelude ambiguity and and confusion, propositions must be rendered in their logical form,
the term of a proposition are arranged in this order: S c P. S stands for the subject term, P stands
for the predicate term, and C for copula. Let us consider the example above: "Levi likes white
chocolates". Since, we already identified that "white chocolates" is the logical statement so we
transpose the statement in its logical form in this way; " White chocolates are what Levi loves."

Kinds of Proposition

There are various types of proposition but we will limit our discussion to categorical and
hypothetical prepositions.

Categorical Proposition

A categorical proposition is one which expresses a direct and unconditional judgment that is,
the affirmation or denial of the subject is certain manifest, and, clear.
Examples: “Dishonesty is not desirable.” “Filipino women are marrying foreigners.”

The A, I, E, O Propositions

There are four types of categorical propositions, namely, A (universal affirmative), E (universal
negative), I (particular affirmative), O (particular negative). The letters A and I refers to the Latin
word "Affirmo" which means "I affirm" while the letter E and O comes from another Latin word
"nEgO" which means "I negate". As a model, we shall make use of "S" to refer to the subject and
"P" to refer to the predicate.

A: Universalis Affirmativa (Universal Affirmative)

Example : Omnis S est P. (All S is P)
: All men are mortal
E: Universalis Negativa (Universal Negative)
Example : Nullus S est P. (No S is P)
:No men are mortal.
I: Particularis Affirmativa (Particular Affirmative)
Example : Quidam S est P. (Some S is P)
:Some men are mortal
O: Particularis Negativa (Particular Negative)
Example :Quidam S non est P. (Some S is not P)
:Some men are not mortal.
The Quantity of a Proposition

According to quantity, there are two kinds of proposition, namely, universal and particular. We
have to take note that singular and collective propositions are taken as a
universal. We can determine the quantity of a proposition by looking at the quantity of the
subject term of a proposition.

Examples:
Universal : All philosophers ate thinkers.
: No crocodiles are bipeds.
Particular : Some women are mothers.
: Not all gays are immoral

The Quality of a Proposition

According to quality, there are two kinds of proposition, namely, affirmative and negative. To
determine the quality of a categorical proposition simply examine the copula. If the copula is
positive, then the quality of the proposition is affirmative; if the copula is negative, then the
proposition is negative.

Examples:
Some Filipinos are not Catholics.
All boxers are athletes.

The quality of the first proposition is negative (copula is are not), while the quality of the
second proposition is affirmative (copula is are).

The Quantity of the Predicate Term

From the stand point if the quantity, there ate two kinds of a predicate term, namely, universal
amd particular. We can determine the quantity of a predicate term by looking at the copula or
the quality of the proposition.

There are two rules to observe:

1. If the proposition is affirmative, the quantity of the predicate term is particular. 2. If the
proposition is negative, the quantity of the predicate term is universal. Examples:
Some countries are not democratic.
All poets are creative.

The first example is a negative proposition, so following rule number two (2) above, the
quantity of the predicate term "democratic" is universal.
The second example is affirmative proposition, and in the light of rule number one (1), the
quantity of the predicate term "creative" is particular.
Types of Quantity of Quality of Quality of the Term
Predicate
Categorical The Subject the Proposition Distributed
Term
Propositions Term

A Universal Affirmative Particular S

E Universal Negative Particular P

I Particular Affirmative Universal None

O Particular Negative Universal P

The Venn Diagram

The Venn Diagram Venn introduced by John Venn (1834-1923) a Fellow of Cambridge
University and a cleric in an Anglican Church. Venn devised this method in order to illustrate the
relationship between the subject and predicate of categorical propositions.

The Venn Marks

Venn diagramming is done by shading or placing an “x” in a specific area within the circles. In
the Venn diagram, a shaded area means an empty, void, or null class while an “x” means that at
least one member of a class exists. If no mark appears in an area, it means that nothing is known
about the area, in other words, it may contain members or it may be empty.

Example: The two overlapping circles represent two classes. The first circle on left represents
the class of Musicians while the other circle stands for the class of Poets.

123
4
/ \ Musicians Poets
If we consider the diagram above we will be able to determine the contents represented
by numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4.
1. Musicians who are not poets
2. Musicians who are poets or poets who are musicians
3. Poets who are not musicians
4. Neither musicians nor pets

Diagramming A, E, I, & O

A. All S are P. E. All S are P.

All men are mortal No men are immortal

S (men) P (mortal) S (men) P (mortal)

I. Some S are P. O. Some S are not P.

Some books are novels Some birds are not nocturnal

S (books) P (novels) S (birds) P (nocturnal)

Interpretation of the Diagram

In the A diagram, the area S (men) are outside P (mortal is shaded. Since a shaded area
signifies a null or empty class, the shaded part means that the class of men who are not mortal
is an empty claa.
In the case o f the E diagram, the portion where S (men) and P (immortal) overlap is
shaded. Since a shaded area denotes a null or empty class, the shaded part means that the
class of men who are immortal does not have any member.

In the I diagram, the portion where S (books) and P (novels) overlap is marked with
an “x”. Since an “x” signifies that at least one member of the class exists, the area that is
marked with an “x” means that there exists at least “one book that is novel” in that class.

In the case of the O diagram, the area S (birds) outside P (nocturnal) is marked with an
“x”. Since an “x” denotes that at least one member of the class exists, the area which is
marked with an “x” means that there exists at least “one bird that is not nocturnal”.