Classical Square of

Opposition - Notes

UGC NET Paper 1

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Immediate Inferences
An immediate inference is one that can be made solely on the basis of a single premise. In
propositional logic the inference rules simplification and addition are instances of immediate
inference, as are all of the equivalence rules. In categorical logic, immediate inferences are
drawn based on our knowledge of the truth or falsity of one categorical proposition.

Three important immediate inferences deal with the logical relationships of conversion,
obversion and contraposition

Conversion switches the subject and predicate terms. For example, the converse of "All S
are P" is "All P are S". Conversion is legitimate for E and I propositions, but not for A and O
propositions.

Obversion involves making two changes: the quality is changed (either from affirmative to
negative or negative to affirmative) and the compliment of the predicate class is substituted
for the predicate term. The compliment of a class is the class of everything not in the original
class. The class of non-S's is the compliment of the class S. So, the obverse of "All S are P" is
"No S are non-P". Obversion is always legitimate.

Contraposition also involves making two changes: both terms are replaced by their
compliments, and the terms are switched (as in conversion). Thus, the contrapositive of "All S
are P is "All non-P are non-S". Contraposition may remind you of the equivalence
rule transposition and some systems of logic call that rule 'contraposition'. HOWEVER,
contraposition in categorical (and full blown predicate) logic does not neatly match the rules
for conditionals in propositional logic. Contraposition is legitimate for A and O propositions,
but not for E and I.

The following chart gives the converse, obverse and contrapositive of each of our 4
categorical propositions and indicates which of those transformations are NOT VALID.

A E I O
Proposition All S are P No S are P Some S are P Some S are not P
All P are S Some P are not S
Converse No P are S Some P are S
NOT VALID NOT VALID
No S are non- Some S are not
Obverse All S are non-P Some S are non-P
P non-P
No non-P are Some non-P are
All non-P are Some non-P are
Contrapositive non-S non-S
non-S not non-S
NOT VALID NOT VALID

SQUARE OF OPPOSITION

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Opposition is a kind of logical relation wherein propositions ‘stand against’ one another in
terms of truth-value when they have the same subject and the same predicate, but differ in
quantity or quality or both. Traditional logic called this relation square of opposition

1. Contradiction: When two propositions differ in both ‘quantity’ and ‘quality’, the relation is
called contradiction, e.g. ‘All men are wise’ (A) – ‘Some men are not wise’ (O). It is the most
complete form of logical opposition because they are neither true nor false together. If one is
true, the other is necessarily false and vice versa. This sort of self - contradiction is due to
incompatibility between respective statements. Similarly, the statements, ‘No men are wise’ (E)
– ‘Some men are wise’ (I) are contradictory

2. Contrariety: When two universal propositions differ only in ‘quality’, the opposition is called
contrary; e.g. ‘All men are wise’ (A) – ‘No men are wise’ (E). By definition, both contraries can be
false – precisely as in the example given – but they cannot be true at the same time. If one of
them is true, the other must necessarily be false, but if one is false, the other may be true or
false. One kind of proposition called singular proposition (also called simple), whose S is the
proper name, has no contrary and its contradiction differs only in quality. One example is ‘Jo is
bad – Jo is not bad’. Another example is ‘The author of Hamlet is an Englishman and ‘The
author of Hamlet’ is not an Englishman.

3. Subcontrariety: When two particular propositions differ only in ‘quality’, the opposition is
called subcontrariety. E.g. ‘Some men are wise’ (I) – ‘Some men are not wise’ (O). Subcontrary
propositions can be true together – as in the example given, but they cannot be false at the
same time. If one of them is true, the other may be true or false, but if one of them is false, the
other must necessarily be true. The inverse order of ‘contrary’ and ‘subcontrary’ propositions
is evident.

4.Subalternation is an immediate inference which is only made between A (All S are P) and I
(Some S are P) categorical propositions and between E (No S are P or originally, No S is P) and
O (Some S are not P or originally, Not every S is P) categorical propositions of the traditional
square of opposition and the original.

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A propositions, or universal affirmatives take the form: All S are P.

E propositions, or universal negations take the form: No S are P.

I propositions, or particular affirmatives take the form: Some S are P.

O propositions, or particular negations take the form: Some S are not P.

SUBJECT | UGC NET Paper 1 3 of 3