their regular form.
It should be noted that
Notes on Reduction of Propositions into
Logical Form
Article Shared By
There are four standard forms of categorical
propositions such as A, E, I and O-
propositions having the structure of the
form, ‘All S is P’ ‘No S is P’, ‘Some S is P’ and
‘Some S is not P’ respectively. Thus, we
know that the logical structure of any
categorical proposition exhibits the following
four items in the order as given below.
Quantifier (Subject term) copula (predicate
term)
Here the first item is the ‘quantifier’ (or more
precisely the words expressing the quantity
of the proposition). It is attached to the
subject term only. The second item in any
logical proposition is the subject term. The
predicate term, that expresses something
about the subject, comes after the copula.
The copula is placed in between the subject
and predicate term.
Further, the quality of the proposition is
expressed in and through the copula. The
copula and the predicate term are
respectively the third and fourth logical
elements of a categorical proposition. Thus,
a categorical proposition which is in standard
form must exhibit explicitly the subject, the
predicate, the copula, its quality and
quantity. Let us call a categorical proposition
regular if it is in its standard form, otherwise
it is called irregular.
In our ordinary language most of the
categorical propositions are irregular in
nature. Even though there are irregular
categorical propositions they can be put in
while reducing an irregular categorical
proposition into its standard form, we should
pay enough attention to the meaning of the
proposition so that the reduced proposition is
equivalent in meaning to its irregular
counterpart.
Before describing the method of reduction of
irregular propositions into their regular
forms, it is profitable to understand the
reasons for irregularity of a categorical
proposition: The irregularity of any
categorical proposition may be due to one or
more of these following factors.
(i) The copula is not explicitly stated; rather
it is mixed with the main verb which forms
the part of the predicate
(ii) Though the logical ingredients of a
categorical proposition are present in the
sentence yet are not arranged in their proper
logical order.
(iii) The quantity of a categorical proposition
is not expressed by a proper word like ‘all’,
‘no’ (or none), ‘some’ or it does not contain
any word to indicate the quantity of the
proposition.
(iv) All exclusive, exceptive and interrogative
propositions are clearly irregular.
(v) The quality of the proposition is not
specified by attaching the sign of negation to
the copula.
Keeping these factors in mind, let us
describe systematically the method of
reduction of an irregular categorical
proposition into its standard form (or into a
regular proposition). Below we describe the
method of reduction.
I. Reduction of categorical propositions
whose copula is not stated explicitly
In our ordinary use of language, very often
the copula is not explicitly or separately
expressed but is mixed with the main verb.
The main verb in such a case forms the part
of the predicate. The moment copula is
identified; the other items of a logical
proposition are brought out in a usual
manner. We know that the copula of any
logical proposition must be in present tense
of the verb “to be” with or without the sign
of negation.
Now let us consider an example of an
irregular proposition, where the copula is not
explicitly stated. “All sincere students
deserve success”. This is an irregular
proposition, as the copula is clearly mixed
with the main verb of the proposition. The
method of reducing such irregular sentences
into regular ones is as follows. The subject
and the quantifier of the irregular proposition
should remain as they are, while the rest of
the proposition may be converted to a class
forming property (i.e. term) which would be
our logical predicate.
In our above example ‘All’ is the quantifier
attached to the subject ‘sincere students’.
We should not touch the quantifier nor the
subject term of the proposition, they should
remain where they are. On the other hand,
the rest of the proposition ‘deserve success’
should be converted into a class forming
property ‘success deserving’. This should be
our logical predicate. Then we link the
subject term with the predicate term with a
standard copula. Thus,
“All sincere students deserve success.”
Irregular proposition.
“All sincere students are success deserving.”
A – Proposition.
“All people seek power.” Irregular
proposition.
“All people are power seekers.” A –
Proposition.
“Some people drink Coca Cola.” Irregular
proposition.
“Some people are Coca Cola drinkers.” I –
proposition
II. Irregular propositions where the usual
logical ingredients are all present but are not
arranged in their logical order.
Consider the following examples of irregular
propositions. “All is well that ends well” and
“Ladies are all affectionate.” In these cases,
first we have to locate the subject term and
then rearrange the words occurring in the
proposition to obtain the regular categorical
proposition. Such reductions are usually
quite straight forward. Thus we reduce the
above two examples as given below.
“All is well that ends well.” Irregular
proposition
“All things that end well are things that are
well.” A – Proposition
“Ladies are all affectionate.” Irregular
proposition
“All ladies are affectionate.” A – Proposition
III. Statements in which the quantity is not
expressed by proper quantity words. Some
propositions do not contain word like ‘All’,
‘No’, ‘some’ or contain no words to indicate
the quantity. We reduce such a type of
irregular proposition into its logical form as
explained below.
Here we have to consider two sub-cases :
sub-case (i) where there is indication of
quantity but no proper quantity words like
‘All’, ‘No’, on ‘Some’ are used and Sub case
(ii) where the irregular proposition contains
no word to indicate its quantity.
Sub-case (i): Affirmative sentences that
begin with words like ‘every’, ‘any’, ‘each’
are to be treated as A-propositions, where
such words are to be replaced by the word
“all” and rest of the proposition remains as it
is or may be modified as necessary. The
followings are some of the examples of this
type.
“Every man is liable to commit mistakes.”
Irregular proposition.
“All men are persons who liable to commit
mistakes.” A – Proposition.
“Each student took part in the competition.”
Irregular proposition.
“All students are persons who took part in
the competition.” A – Proposition.
“Any one of my students is laborious.”
Irregular proposition.
“All my students are laborious.” A –
Proposition.
A negative sentence that begins with a word
like ‘every’, ‘any’, ‘each’, or ‘all’ is to be
treated as an O-proposition. Any such
proposition may be reduced to its logical
form as shown below.
“Every man is not honest”. Irregular
proposition
“Some men are not honest.” O – Proposition
“Any student cannot get first class.”
Irregular proposition.
“Some students are not persons who can get
first class.” O – Proposition.
“All is not gold that glitters.” Irregular
proposition.
“Some things that glitter are not gold.” O –
Proposition.
Sub- Case (ii):
“Sentences with singular term or definite
singular term without the sign of negation
are to be treated as A-proposition. For
example, “Ram is mortal.”, “The oldest
university of Orissa is in Bhubaneswar.” are
A-propositions.
Here the predicate is affirmed of the whole
of the subject term. On the other hand,
sentences with singular term or definite
singular term with the sign of negation are
to be treated as E-propositions. For example,
“Ram is not a student” and “The tallest
student of the class is not a singer” are to be
treated as E-propositions. These are cases
where the predicate is denied of the whole of
the subject term.
IV. “Sentences beginning with the words
like ‘no’, ‘never’, ‘none’ are to be treated as
E-propositions. The following sentence is an
example of this type.
“Never men are perfect.” Irregular
proposition
“No man is perfect.” E – Proposition
V. Affirmative sentences with words, like ‘a
few’, ‘certain’, ‘most’, ‘many’ are to be
treated as I-propositions, while negative
sentences with these words are to be treated
as
O-propositions. Since the word ‘few’ has a
negative sense, an affirmative sentence
beginning with the word ‘few’ is negative in
quality. A negative sentence beginning with
the word ‘few’ is affirmative in quality
because it involves a double negation that
amount to affirmation. The following are
examples of above type.
“A few men are present.” Irregular
proposition.
“Some men are present.” I – proposition.
“Certain books are good.” Irregular
proposition.
“Some books are good.” I – proposition.
“Most of the students are laborious.”
Irregular proposition.
“Some students are laborious.” I –
proposition.
Here we may note that ‘most’ means less
then ‘all’ and hence it is equivalent to ‘some’.
“Many Indians are religious.” Irregular
proposition.
“Some Indians are religious.” I – proposition.
“Certain books are not readable.” Irregular
proposition
“Some books are not readable.” O –
Proposition
“Most of the students are not rich.” Irregular
proposition.
“Some students are not rich.” O –
Proposition
“Few men are above temptation.” Irregular
proposition
“Some men are not above temptation.” O –
Proposition
“Few men are not selfish.” Irregular
proposition
“Some men are selfish.’ I
VI. Any statement whose subject is qualified
with words like ‘only’, ‘alone’, ‘none but’, or
‘no one else but’ is called an exclusive
proposition. This is so called because the
term qualified by any such word applies
exclusively to the other term. In such cases
the quantity of the proposition is not
explicitly stated.
The propositions beginning with words like
‘only’, ‘alone’, ‘none but’ etc are to be
reduced to their logical form by the following
procedure. First interchange the subject and
the predicate, and then replace the words
like ‘only’, ‘alone’ etc with ‘all’. For example,
“Only Oriyas are students of this college.”
Irregular proposition.
“All students of this college are oriyas.” A –
Proposition.
“The honest alone wins the confidence of
people.” Irregular Proposition.
“All persons who win the confidence of
people are honest.” A-proposition.
VII. Propositions in which the predicate is
affirmed or denied of the whole subject with
some exception is called an exceptive
proposition. An exceptive proposition may be
definite or indefinite. If the exception is
definitely specified as in case of “All metals
except mercury are solid” then the
proposition is to be treated as universal and
if the exception is indefinite, as in case of
“All metals except one is solid”, the
proposition is to be treated as particular.
“All metals except mercury are solid.” is a
universal proposition which means
“All non-mercury metals are solid.”
Now let us consider an example where the
exception is indefinite. For example, “All
students of my class except a few are well
prepared”, it is to be reduced to an I-
proposition as given below.
“All students of my class except a few are
well prepared.” Irregular proposition.
“Some students of my class are well
prepared.” I – proposition.
VIII. There are impersonal propositions
where the quantity is not specified. Consider
for example, “It is cold”, “It is ten O’clock”.
In such cases propositions in question are to
be reduced to A-proposition because the
subject in each of these cases is a definite
description.
“It is cold”. Irregular proposition
“The whether is cold.” A – Proposition.
“It is ten O’clock.” Irregular proposition.
“The time is ten O’clock.” A – Proposition.
There are some propositions where the
quantity is not specified. In such cases we
have to examine the context of its use to
decide the quantity. For example, consider
following sentences (1) “Dogs are
carnivorous”, (2) “Men are mortal”, (3)
“Students are present.” In first two
examples, the quantity has to be universal
but in the third case, it is particular. Thus,
their reductions into logical form are as
follows.
“Dogs are carnivorous.” Irregular
proposition.
“All dogs are carnivorous.” A – Proposition.
This is so because we know that “being
carnivorous’ is true of all dogs.
“Men are mortal.” Irregular proposition.
“All men are mortal.” A – Proposition
Here ‘being mortal’ is generally true of men.
But in the proposition “Students are
present”, we mean to assert that some
students are present”. So the proposition
“Men are mortal” is reduced to “All men are
mortal” But in the example “Students are
present”, ‘being present’ is not generally true
of all students.

So the proposition “Students are present” is

reduced to “Some dents are present” which
is an I-proposition. Thus the context of use
of a proposition determines the nature of the
proposition.

IX. Problematic propositions are particular in

meaning. For example “The poor may be
happy” should be treated as a particular
proposition, because what such a proposition
asserts is that it is sometimes true and
sometimes false.

Thus, “The poor may be happy” is reduced to

“Some poor people are happy”, which is an
I-proposition

X. Similarly, there are propositions where

the quantity is not specified but their
predicates are qualified by the words like
‘hardly’, ‘scarcely’, ‘seldom’. Such
propositions should be treated as particular
negative. For example, “Businessmen are
seldom honest”, is an irregular proposition.
It is reduced to “Some businessmen are not
honest”. If such a proposition contains the
sign of negation that these proposition is to
be treated as an I-proposition.

For example, “Businessmen are not seldom

honest.” is to be reduced to “Some
businessmen are honest”, which is an I –
proposition. This is so because it involves a
double negation which is equivalent to
affirmation