4.1 & 4.

Categorical Propositions
 What are categorical propositions?
• Categorical propositions are statements that relate two different
classes of things.
– Examples:
• Horror movies always have obvious(clear) endings.
– All horror movies are included in the class of things that have obvious endings.

• Action movies are for movie buffs(a person who knows a lot about and is very
interested in a particular subject).
– The whole class of action movies is included in the class of people that are movie
buffs.

– Essentially, either all or part of the subject is included in all or part of the
predicate.
• Standard form
– A proposition that expresses the relation between subject and predicate
with complete clarity.
 Four types of categorical propositions

• Categorical propositions are in standard form only if they appear in the following way:
– All S are P.
– No S are P.
– Some S are P.
– Some S are not P.

– All S are not P is not standard form since it can mean two different things:
• It can mean that “No S are P” or that “Some S are not P”.

• Some propositions are not in standard form when they don’t begin with the words “all”, “no”, and
“some”.

• Categorical propositions are just specific forms of substitution instances.

 Breaking down the standard form

• Normal sentences have a subject and a predicate.

– Example: All bears are brown.
• Standard form categorical propositions break this down further, and
have four parts:
– Quantifier
• Specify how much of the subject is included in the predicate.
– All, some, and no.
– Some means “at least one”.
– Subject term
• Main subject word, identified without its quantifier.
– Copula
• Word that links the subject term and the predicate term.
– Are and are not.
– Predicate term
• Main predicate word, identified without its copula.
 Attributes of categorical propositions
• Quality
– Affirmative or negative, depending on whether it affirms or denies that the subject is
included in the predicate.

• All S are P = Affirmative quality

• Some S are P = Affirmative quality

• No S are P = Negative quality

• Some S are not P = Negative quality

• Quantity
– Universal or particular, depending on whether a statement says something about all
or some things referenced by the subject.
• All S are P = Universal quantity
• No S are P = Universal quantity

• Some S are P = Particular quantity

• Some S are not P = Particular quantity
Quality, Quantity and distribution
 Rules about quantity and quality

• A proposition’s quantity can be determined just by looking at the quantifier.

– All and no imply universal, and some implies particular.

• But propositions don’t have a “qualifier”.

– Universal propositions – Determined by the quantifier.
– Particular propositions – Determined by the copula.
• All people are happy. - Affirmative, by looking at the word “all”.
• No people are happy. – Negative.

• Some people are happy. – Affirmative, by looking at “are”.

• Some people are not happy – Negative, by looking it “are not”.
 Classifying the four propositions

• The four kinds of propositions are classified according to the first four vowels in the
alphabet.
– A types – All S are P. (Universal affirmative)
– E types – No S are P. (Universal negative)
– I types – Some S are P. (Particular affirmative)
– O types – Some S are not P. (Particular negative)
 Distribution

• An attribute of the terms in a proposition (subject and predicate).

• A term is distributed if it makes an assertion about every thing in the class that it refers
to.
– All S are P. (S only is distributed)
– No S are P (S and P are both distributed)
– Some S are P (Neither one are distributed)
– Some S are not P (P only is distributed)

– Example:
• All people are happy. (Everyone who is a person falls within the class of being happy).
• Some people are not happy. (The state of being happy is separate from the one person we know who is
not happy).
 Main attributes of categorical propositions
Proposition Letter name Quantity Quality Terms
distributed

All S are P. A Universal Affirmative S

No S are P. E Universal Negative S and P

Some S are I Particular Affirmative Neither

P.

Some S are O Particular Negative P

not P.