Simple

Categorical
Preposition
Simple Categorical Preposition

In logic, a categorical proposition, or categorical statement, is a proposition that asserts or denies that
all or some of the members of one category (the subject term) are included in another (the predicate
term). The study of arguments using categorical statements (i.e., syllogisms) forms an important branch
of deductive reasoning that began with the Ancient Greeks.

The Ancient Greeks such as Aristotle identified four primary distinct types of categorical proposition and
gave them standard forms (now often called A, E, I, and O). If, abstractly, the subject category is named S
and the predicate category is named P, the four standard forms are:

Ex

All S are P. (A form)

No S are P. (E form)
Some S are P. (I form)
Some S are not P. (O form)

Ex

No acids are bases.

Some philosophers are mathematicians.
Some Americans are not cheaters.
All dogs are mammals.

The first example asserts that the whole class of dogs are included in the class of mammals; the second
declares that the entire class of acids are excluded from the class of bases; the third states that a part of
philosophers are included in the class of mathematicians; and the last one claims that a part of the class of
Americans are excluded from the class of cheaters.
Sentences in natural language may be translated into standard form. In each row of the following chart,

S corresponds to the subject of the example sentence, and P corresponds to the predicate.

Name English Sentence Standard Form

A All cats have four legs. All S is P.
E No cats have eight legs. No S is P.
I Some cats are orange. Some S is P.
O Some cats are not black. Some S is not P.

Note that "All S is not P" (e.g., "All cats do not have eight legs") is not classified as an example of standard
form. This is because the translation to natural language is ambiguous. In common speech, the sentence
"All cats do not have eight legs" could be used informally to indicate either

(1) "At least some, and perhaps all, cats do not have eight legs"

or

(2) "No cats have eight legs".

Properties of categorical propositions

Categorical propositions can be categorized into four types on the basis of their "quality" and "quantity",
or their "distribution of terms". These four types have long been named A, E, I, and O. This is based on the
Latin affirmo (I affirm), referring to the affirmative propositions A and I, and nego (I deny), referring to
the negative propositions E and O.

Quantity and quality

Quantity refers to the number of members of the subject class that are used in the proposition. If the
proposition refers to all members of the subject class, it is universal. If the proposition does not employ all
members of the subject class, it is particular. For instance, an I-proposition ("Some S is P") is particular
since it only refers to some of the members of the subject class.

e.g. All balls are round objects; No fish are rational being.

Quality refers to whether the proposition affirms or denies the inclusion of a subject within the class of
the predicate. The two possible qualities are called affirmative and negative. For instance, an A-
proposition ("All S is P") is affirmative since it states that the subject is contained within the predicate. On
the other hand, an O-proposition ("Some S is not P") is negative since it excludes the subject from the
predicate.

e.g. All rocks are solid objects; Some animals are carnivores

Name Statement Quantity Quality

A All S is P. universal affirmative
E No S is P. universal negative
I Some S is P. particular affirmative
O Some S is not P. particular negative

An important consideration is the definition of the word some. In logic, some refers to "one or more",
which could mean "all". Therefore, the statement "Some S is P" does not guarantee that the statement
"Some S is not P" is also true.
Distributivity

The two terms (subject and predicate) in a categorical proposition may each be classified as distributed
or undistributed. If all members of the term's class are affected by the proposition, that class is
distributed; otherwise it is undistributed. Every proposition therefore has one of four possible distribution
of terms.

Each of the four canonical forms will be examined in turn regarding its distribution of terms. Although
not developed here, Venn diagrams are sometimes helpful when trying to understand the distribution of
terms for the four forms.

A form

An A-proposition distributes the subject to the predicate, but not the reverse. Consider the following
categorical proposition: "All dogs are mammals". All dogs are indeed mammals, but it would be false to
say all mammals are dogs. Since all dogs are included in the class of mammals, "dogs" is said to be
distributed to "mammals". Since all mammals are not necessarily dogs, "mammals" is undistributed to
"dogs".

E form

An E-proposition distributes bidirectionally between the subject and predicate. From the categorical
proposition "No beetles are mammals", we can infer that no mammals are beetles. Since all beetles are
defined not to be mammals, and all mammals are defined not to be beetles, both classes are distributed.

I form

Both terms in an I-proposition are undistributed. For example, "Some Americans are conservatives".
Neither term can be entirely distributed to the other. From this proposition, it is not possible to say that
all Americans are conservatives or that all conservatives are Americans.

O form

In an O-proposition, only the predicate is distributed. Consider the following: "Some politicians are not
corrupt". Since not all politicians are defined by this rule, the subject is undistributed. The predicate,
though, is distributed because all the members of "corrupt people" will not match the group of people
defined as "some politicians". Since the rule applies to every member of the corrupt people group,
namely, "All corrupt people are not some politicians", the predicate is distributed.

The distribution of the predicate in an O-proposition is often confusing due to its ambiguity. When a
statement such as "Some politicians are not corrupt" is said to distribute the "corrupt people" group to
"some politicians", the information seems of little value, since the group "some politicians" is not defined.
But if, as an example, this group of "some politicians" were defined to contain a single person, Albert, the
relationship becomes clearer. The statement would then mean that, of every entry listed in the corrupt
people group, not one of them will be Albert: "All corrupt people are not Albert". This is a definition that
applies to every member of the "corrupt people" group, and is, therefore, distributed.

Summary

In short, for the subject to be distributed, the statement must be universal (e.g., "all", "no"). For the
predicate to be distributed, the statement must be negative (e.g., "no", "not").

Distribution
Name Statement
Subject Predicate
A All S is P. distributed undistributed
E No S is P. distributed distributed
I Some S is P. undistributed undistributed
O Some S is not P. undistributed distributed

Criticism

Peter Geach and others have criticized the use of distribution to determine the validity of an argument. It
has been suggested that statements of the form "Some A are not B" would be less problematic if stated as
"Not every A is B," which is perhaps a closer translation to Aristotle's original form for this type of
statement.

Operations on categorical statements

There are several operations (e.g., conversion, obversion, and contraposition) that can be performed on a
categorical statement to change it into another. The new statement may or may not be equivalent to the
original. [In the following tables that illustrate such operations, rows with equivalent statement shall be
marked in green, while those with inequivalent statements shall be marked in red.]

Some operations require the notion of the class complement. This refers to every element under
consideration which is not an element of the class. Class complements are very similar to set
complements. The class complement of a set P will be called "non-P".
IMMEDIATE
INFERENCE
Immediate inference

An immediate inference is an inference which can be made from only one statement or proposition.[1] For
instance, from the statement "All toads are green." we can make the immediate inference that "No toads are not
green." There are a number of immediate inferences which can validly be made using logical operations, the
result of which is a logically equivalent statement form to the given statement. There are also invalid immediate
inferences which are syllogistic fallacies

Eduction

is a type of immediate inference in which we deduce the truth of other propositions with a different structure from a
given proposition.
Rule: Particular terms cannot be turned into universal. What is true to some may not be true to all.

For example:

All men are mortals.

From this proposition, I can deduce an apparently equivalent proposition: Some mortals are men, but NOT all mortal are
men.

Remember that we do not give additional knowledge when we deduce propositions from a given proposition when we
use eduction. In fact, all other new propositions deduced from a given proposition are not something new. In meaning,
they are the same with the original proposition.
Conversion

The simplest operation is conversion where the subject and predicate terms are interchanged.

Given a type E statement, from the traditional square of opposition, "No S are P.", one can make the immediate
inference that "No P are S" which is the converse of the given statement.

Given a type I statement, "Some S are P.", one can make the immediate inference that "Some P are S" which is
the converse of the given statement.

Obverted
Converse
Obverted Converse
Name Statement Converse Subaltern per
Converse per
accidens
accidens
Some P is
Some S is Some P is
No P is not non-S
A All S is P. All P is S. P (if S or P S (if S or
non-S. (if S or P
exists). P exists).
exists).

Some S is Some P is Some P is

All P is
E No S is P. No P is S. not P (if S not S (if P non-S (if
non-S.
exists). exists). P exists).

Some P is
Some S is Some P is
I not non-
P. S.
S.

Some S is Some P is Some P is

O
not P. not S. non-S.

From a statement in E or I form, it is valid to conclude its converse. This is not the case for the A and O
forms.
Obversion

Obversion changes the quality (that is the affirmativity or negativity) of the statement and the predicate
term. For example, a universal affirmative statement would become a universal negative statement.

Given a type A statement, "All S are P.", one can make the immediate inference that "No S are non-P" which
is the obverse of the given statement.

Given a type E statement, "No S are P.", one can make the immediate inference that "All S are non-P" which
is the obverse of the given statement.

Given a type I statement, "Some S are P.", one can make the immediate inference that "Some S are not non-
P" which is the obverse of the given statement.

Given a type O statement, "Some S are not P.", one can make the immediate inference that "Some S are non-
P" which is the obverse of the given statement

Name Statement Obverse

A All S is P. No S is non-P.
E No S is P. All S is non-P.
I Some S is P. Some S is not non-P.
O Some S is not P. Some S is non-P.

Categorical statements are logically equivalent to their obverse. As such, a Venn diagram illustrating any
one of the forms would be identical to the Venn diagram illustrating its obverse.
Contraposition

Given a type A statement, "All S are P.", one can make the immediate inference that "All non-P are non-S"
which is the contrapositive of the given statement.

Given a type O statement, "Some S are not P.", one can make the immediate inference that "Some non-P are
not non-S" which is the contrapositive of the given statement

Obverted
Obverted Contrapositive
Name Statement Contrapositive Contrapositive
Contrapositive per accidens
per accidens
All non-P is
A All S is P. No non-P is S. N/A
non-S.
Some non-P is
No non-P is Some non-P is S
E No S is P. All non-P is S. not non-S (if S
non-S. (if S exists).
exists).
Some S is Some non-P is Some non-P is
I
P. non-S. not S.
N/A
Some S is Some non-P is Some non-P is
O
not P. not non-S. S.