Reviewer in Logic

I. Introduction to Philosophy

Philosophy – The ancient Greek word “Philosophia” was probably coined by

Phytagoras and literal means “Love of wisdom” of “Friend of wisdom”

What is Philosophy? – Study of the general and fundamental nature of reality,

existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language.

The Noticeable People:

Some Philosophical Questions:

 What is good?
 What is beauty?
 Do we have free will?
 Does the world around us exist?
 What is a person?
 What is truth?
 What is evil?
 What is love?

Branches in Philosophy
1. Metaphysics
2. Logic
3. Epistemology
4. Axiology

 Metaphysics – Study of the most general features of reality, such as existence,

time, the relationship between mind and body, objects and their properties,
wholes and their parts, events, processes and causation.

 Metaphysics is sometimes split up into:

 Ontology – Philosophy of real life and living things
 The Philosophy of mind
 The philosophy of religion

 Typical questions of interest (Metaphysics):

 What is reality?
 What is space?
 Is there any special about being human being or being alive at all?
 What is time?
 What is mind?
 What is a body? Or what is consciousness?
 Do people have souls? Is there a God who created Universe?
 Epistemology – concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, such as
relationship between truth, belief, perceptions and theories of justification.

 Typical question of interest

 What is knowledge?
 How can we know anything?
 What is science?
 What is truth?

 Logic – Study of the principles of correct reasoning. Arguments use either

deductive reasoning or inductive reasoning.

 Typical questions of interest:

 How can we reason correctly?
 How does the truth of an argument‟s premise affect the truth of its conclusion?
 What do the words we use mean?
 How can we say things (especially ideas) in a way that it only has one meaning?

 Axiology (Study of values)

 Ethics - Studies questions of how we should act.
 Aesthetics - Studies questions about arts and beauties.
 Social/Political Philosophy – Studies on which political and/or economic
institutions are most fair and just.

 Typical questions of interest:

 What has love?
 Is time really money? Or have we made it so?
 Does love, beauty, or justice hold any value?
 Religion – Realm of the spirit
 Philosophy – Realm of the mind.
 Science – Realm of the physical.
We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
- Aristotle

II. Judgment and Proposition

Judgment – Is the mental act which affirms or denies something.

Proposition – The product of judgment.
- A statement that affirms.

 Proposition – Is in a form of a sentence as a group of words that expresses a

complete thought.
 4 kinds of Sentences:
1. Declarative - states a fact
2. Interrogative – asks a question
3. Imperative – makes a request or gives command
4. Exclamatory – expresses a strong feeling

 Proposition according to Logicians:

a) According to Buchhuber – proposition is being expressed by a declarative
sentence, for both assert or deny something.
b) According to Copi – insisted that there must be a distinction between form
(kinds of sentences) and function (informative, expressive, directive)
c) According to Aristotle – defines proposition as “a sentence that could be either
true or false”.
- this does not mean, however, that the proposition is in
fact true or false. What matters is that this is a proposition, logical statement,
where something is asserted, and which could either be true or false.

 Kinds of Proposition:
a) Categorical or attributed
b) Hypothetical
c) Existential
d) Non-existential
e) Simple
f) Compound

 Basic Elements of Categorical Proposition

 It has a subject-predicate relationship
 Its subject is affirmed or denied by the predicate therefore there basic
elements are:
1. The subject
2. The predicate

Subject – the one spoken of: the one about whom or of which something is
affirmed or denied.
Predicate – is what is affirmed or denied of the subject.
Copula – links the subject with predicate; a verb to be: is, am, are (affirmative)
and is, am, are not (negative)

Quality of the Proposition – Copula is the qualifier of the Proposition. Because

of it, the proposition is either affirmative or negative.
Quantity of Extension of the Proposition – Quantity of the proposition is
equivalent to quantity of its subject. It is:
 Singular – Single definite individual or group.
 Particular – Indefinite part of its total extension.
 Universal – Every portion signified by the term.
III. Quantity of the Predicate

Three Points in Determining the Quantity of the Predicate

1. Find out if the predicate is singular.
2. If the predicate is not singular, and if the proposition is affirmative, then the
predicate is particular.
3. If the predicate is not singular, and if the proposition is negative, then the
predicate is universal.

IV. Symbols and Categorical Statements

Symbols and Categorical Statements – Attempts to make logic a science as

symbols to achieve shortcuts to correct reasoning.
Symbols for the four Categorical Statements (A,E,I,O)
 A – Universal or Singular and Affirmative Statements
 E – Universal or Singular and Negative Statements
 I – Particular and Affirmative Statements
 O – Particular and Negative Statements
A:

1. All roses are flowers.

2. Every cloud has its silver lining.
3. Man is a being-for-death.
4. Whoever wins will be awarded a trip to Hong Kong.
5. Wherever you go, I go.

E:

1. No atheist is a believer in God.

2. No bird has four legs.
3. Love of country is not a commodity for sale.
4. None of the invited top brass showed up.
5. Love means not having to say you are sorry.

I:

1. Some philosophers are essentialists.

2. Several philosophers are existentialists.
3. Many movies are, in whole or in part pornographic.
4. A few heart transplant patients are still alive.
5. Most cultures are deeply religious.

O:

1. Some dogs are not black.

2. Not all women are fickle.
3. A few Filipinos are not literate.
4. Many Americans are not rich.
5. Most Russians are not Communist Party members.
V. The Logical Form

- Most of the propositions taken up follow a consistent pattern: S is P (subject-copula-

predicate). Those already adept in logic can easily translate, mentally, any proposition
into a standard- form categorical statement.

The following illustrate the logical form:

A Propositions:

1. Mario sells newspapers.

Mario is a [newsboy]

2. Shakespeare wrote a drama Macbeth.

Shakespeare is the [dramatist] of Macbeth.
Shakespeare is the [author] of the drama Macbeth.

E Propositions:

1. No crocodiles fly.
No crocodiles are [flyers].

2. None of the guests came.

No guests are [guests] who came. or
No guests are [people] who came.

I Propositions:

1. Some broken hearts can be mended. Some broken hearts are mendable [things].

2. A dog barked furiously last night. Some dog is an [animal] which barked furiously
last night.

O Propositions:

1. Several student radicals have not traveled to Red China. several student radicals
are not [travelers] to Red China.
 2. We saw the zarzuela and did not enjoy it. Some times that we saw the
zarzuela are not [times] that we enjoyed.

VI. The Hypothetical Propositions

Hypothetical Propositions - is a compound proposition which contains a

proposed or tentative explanation.
Compound Propositions - consists of at least two clauses connected by
conjunctions, adverbs, etc. which expresses the relationship between the clauses
as well as our assent to it.

3 Kinds of Hypothetical Propositions

 Conditional Proposition
 Disjunctive Proposition
 Conjunctive Proposition

1. Conditional Proposition
- A compound proposition in which one clause asserts something as true
provided that the other clause is true.
- The first clause= “if” clause or termed as the „antecedent‟.
- The second clause = “then” clause or called as the „consequent‟.

Example: If strong typhoons come, then crops will be destroyed.

2. Disjunctive Proposition
- “Alternative proposition”
- It is the one which presents two or more alternatives, one of which may be true.
- Its members are linked by the conjunctions “either…or.”
- It may either be strict disjunctive or broad disjunctive.

 Strict Disjunctive
- Only one member is true and the others are false.
- A proposition and its contradictory may be asserted.
  Broad Disjunctive
- One member or more than one member may be true.
- The distinction between the strict and the broad disjunctive is based on the
analysis of the subject matter and context.

3. Conjunctive Proposition
- One which asserts that two alternatives cannot be true at the same time. In fact,
both alternatives may be false.

VII. The Venn Diagrams

Venn Diagrams
- A clearer presentation of categorical statement.
- Called after the English mathematician and logician John Venn who first
introduced it during the nineteenth century.
- If we represent the subject as S and the predicate as P, then anything that is
not the subject is S‟ and anything that is not the predicate is P‟.