LESSON 5:

THE
PROPOSITION
 Language is symbol. Take two or three letters of the alphabet and you have a word.
Take two or three words and you have a sentence. Such is the power of a sentence that it
expresses the loftiest concept of life, such as truth, righteousness, and love.

In this chapter, we shall discuss a special type of sentence – the proposition. For the
ancient thinkers, proposition is the enunciation of truth or falsity. We may say that the
“launching pad” of an argument is a proposition expressing a simple truth.
The Mental Act of Judgment

Judgment, which is the second mental operation, is defined as the mental act of
affirming or denying the relationship between two concepts or enunciations.
while the act of simple apprehension confines itself to grasping the essence of a thing,
the act of judgment takes two concepts or two enunciations and “decides” mentally on their
agreement or disagreement, on their identity or non identity, with each other. Judgment, then,
involves either one of these acts:
a) That of affirming
b) That of denying the relationship between two concepts

McCalls defines judgment as “the act by which the intellect unites by affirmation, or
separates by negation”
 The verbal expression of mental judgment is the proposition. A simple proposition is
made up of the two concepts being affirmed or denied and of the copula which stands for the act
of affirmation or negation. The two concepts constitute the matter of judgment. The copula, or
the linking verb, constitutes the form of judgment.

It is the combination of matter and form which gives us a proposition, such as:
a) Logic is essay
b) The movie is interesting
c) His father is not a lawyer
The Material Structure of Proposition

The proposition is the verbal expression of the mental judgment, affirming or denying the identity
or non identity of two concepts. It is also known as enunciation, or statement, or sentence.
From the structural point of law, a proposition is composed of the subject, the copula, and the
predicate. It follows this patter:
S–C–P
Examples:
 Grass is green

S C P

 This sentence is false

S C P

 Today is Monday

S C P
The subject stands for the thing under consideration; the predicate for what is affirmed or denied
of the subject; and the copula for the act of affirmation or negation. This is expressed by the
present tense of the linking verb: “is” or “is not”.

The Thought-Content of Proposition

Materially, a proposition is the combination of subject predicate, and copula. But what
formally constitutes a proposition as judgment is its thought-content. The act of affirmation or
negation constitutes a declaration of a fact, or a declaration of falsity. Thus, a proposition is “a
sentence or statement which express truth or falsity.”
There are four basic sentences we have learned in grammar: interrogative, exclamative,
imperative, and declarative. The interrogative formulates a question, the exclamative manifests a
personal reaction; and the imperative articulates a command or request. Only a declarative
sentence may express a truth or a falsity.
A logical proposition is a declarative sentence. Obviously, not every sentence is a
logical proposition, expressive of a judgment.
Examples:

 Interrogative

Where do you live?

What is your name?
 Exclamative (exclamatory)

We won!
It’s a boy!
 Imperative

Shut the front door.

Complete these output by tomorrow
 Declarative

I like climbing
The sky is blue
Kinds of Proposition

Fundamental in logic is the distinction between a categorical and a hypothetical

proposition.
1. Categorical: A proposition unites or separates two concepts by means of the linking
verb “to be”.
Examples:
a) Some sharks are man eaters.
b) No crime is justifiable
c) Every good action is meritorious
 2. Hypothetical: A hypothetical proposition unites or separates, not two concepts, but
two enunciations by means of a non-verb copula. Often, a conjunction is used instead, such as:
“if”, either-or”.
Examples:
a) If it is a car, it has a motor.
b) If he is the criminal, he deserves a punishment.
c) A proposition is either true or false
 The kind of copula being employed is not the only distinction between the categorical
and the hypothetical propositions. A categorical proposition expresses a positive, or a negative
judgment, in an absolute manner, without any conditionality. On the other hand, a hypothetical
proposition expresses a judgment which is qualified by a certain conditionality.
Again, the truth expressed by a categorical proposition is verifiable by its conformity or
not with reality, while that of the hypothetical depends upon the correct formulation of the
hypothetical proposition itself and only by indirect reference to reality. Notice the difference
between these examples:

a) Categorical: A Filipino is a native of the Philippines.

(The statement is a direct declaration of a fact which can be verified as true or false by reference
to objective reality)

b) Hypothetical: If he is a native of the Philippines, he is a Filipino.

(Notice how the truth of “he is a Filipino depends upon the truth of the conditionality “if he is a
native of Philippines”.)
Types of Categorical Propositions

A. According to the Extension of the Subject

1. Singular Proposition – this is a proposition whose subject is a singular concept, that is, it
refers to one specific individual.
Examples:
a) Rey Christopher is the valedictorian of the class
b) This book is very interesting
c) The Head of the Science Department is my teacher

The grammatical singular subject stands for numerical one. In logic, a singular concept
or term stands for one specific individual. From the grammatical point of view, the subject in
this sentence “A boy is crying” – is singular. In logic, it is taken as a particular, not as a singular.
It could be any “boy” who is crying.
2. Particular Proposition – this is a proposition whose subject stands for a particular concept,
that is, to a portion or part of a given totality.
Examples:
a) Some guests arrived early.
b) Several items are missing from the room.
c) A number of students volunteered for the job
3. Universal Proposition – this is a proposition whose subject stands for a universal concept, that
is, to all the inferiors or individuals of the extension of such concept.
Examples:
a) All men are mortal.
b) Every father is proud of his children.
c) Each scholar was given a citation.
4. Indefinite Proposition – this is a proposition whose subject stands for an indefinite number of
individuals. It is also designated precisely because it does not have any quantifying particle to
signify its extension.
Examples:
a) Filipinos are deeply religious
b) The children are playing in the yard
c) Politicians are corrupt
B. According to the Quality of the Copula

1. Affirmative – this is a categorical proposition which affirms the existing relationship between
the subject and the predicate.
Examples:
a) My son is a student of Marist School
b) Some drivers are reckless

2. Negative – this is a categorical proposition which denies the relationship between subject and
predicate.
Examples:
a) Some flowers are not red
b) The teacher is not strict
C. According to the Matter Affirmed or Denied

1. Simple – this is a categorical propositions which unites or separates only two concepts or
terms.
Examples:
a) Drug addiction is a menace to society.
b) AIDS is incurable.
c) Eva is a good mother.

2. Compound – this is a categorical proposition which expresses as a single enunciation two or

more propositions.
Examples:
a) He is an intelligent, dashing yellow.
b) Mr. Umali is a loyal friend and a good mother
c) Some students are diligent, but others are not
D. According to its thought-content

1. True – a categorical proposition whose thought-content agrees with objective reality is said to
be factual or true.
Examples:
a) Man is a rational animal.
c) A triangle has three sides
d) Marriage is a state of life

2. False – a categorical proposition whose thought-content does not agree with objective reality
is false.
Examples:
a) A building is a living thing
b) Amorsolo is an American painter
 The truth expressed by a proposition can either be necessary or contingent. Truth is
necessary when it expresses something which is and cannot be otherwise. Truth is contingent
when it expresses something which is but can be otherwise. Accordingly, we have two kinds of
truthful propositions:

a) A Necessary Proposition – states not merely a fact but a truth which cannot be other
than what it is.
Examples:
a) Man is a rational animal
b) A tree is not a carabao
c) A society is a community of persons
b) A Contigent Proposition – states a mere fact, that is, it declares something which is, but which
could be, or could have been, other than what it is.
Examples:
a) Manny is a boxer
b) The streets of Manila are flooded
c) The President of the country is a lady

Every proposition whose predicate is a logical accident or quality of the subject is a

contingent proposition. On the other hand, all propositions whose predicate is a genus, specific
difference, or essential attribute of the subject is a necessary.
E. The subject and the Quality of the Copula, taken together

1. Singular Affirmative
Example: That man is my cousin

2. Singular Negative
Example: Mr. Antonio is not an accountant

3. Universal Affirmative
Example: All men are equal

4. Universal Negative
Example: No stone is a living thing
5. Particular Affirmative
Example: Some workers are women

6. Particular Negative
Example: Some fruits are not sweet

7. Indefinite Affirmative
Example: A law is a directive of action

8. Indefinite Negative
Example: Filipinos are not industrious
The Logical Form of A Categorical Proposition
The logical form is the structural pattern which shows the material relationship of
subject, predicate, and copula. The logical form of a categorical proposition follows his pattern:
S – C – P (Subject – Copula – Predicate)

Our manner of speech does not always follow this pattern. It is not unusual for us to
speak in sentences such as “man thinks”, “the dog runs fast”, or “the guests arrived early”. In
logic, all sentences of this sort are reductible to a logical form by changing the main verb to the
linking verb. This becomes necessary in order to render explicit the subject and the predicate
which are affirmed or denied. We may change a sentence into its logical form by choosing any
of these methods:
1. Change the verb to present tense progressive. Thus, “Man thinks” becomes “Man is thinking”

2. Incorporate the verb in a phrase. Thus, “Man thinks” becomes “Man is a thinking live being”

3. Change the verb into a noun. Thus, “Man thinks” becomes “Man is a thinker”

4. Change the verb into a relative clause. Thus, “man thinks” becomes “Man is an live being that
thinks”