Immediate Inferences

If we expand the scope of our investigation to include shared terms and their complements,
we can identify logical relationships of three additional varieties. Since each of these new cases
involves a pair of categorical propositions that are logically equivalent to each other—that is,
either both of them are true or both are false—they enable us to draw an immediate inference
from the truth (or falsity) of either member of the pair to the truth (or falsity) of the other.
Immediate Inferences: these logical relations are not part of the Square of Opposition.
They involve changes to the subject and predicate classes. (The logical relations on the Square
of Opposition always keep the same subject and predicate terms)

A. CONVERSION
The converse of any categorical proposition is the new categorical proposition that results
from putting the predicate term of the original proposition in the subject place of the new
proposition and the subject term of the original in the predicate place of the new. Thus, for
example, the converse of "No dogs are felines" is "No felines are dogs," and the converse of
"Some snakes are poisonous animals" is "Some poisonous animals are snakes."
Conversion grounds an immediate inference for both E and I propositions That is, the
converse of any E or I proposition is true if and only if the original proposition was true. Thus, in
each of the pairs noted as examples in the previous paragraph, either both propositions are true
or both are false.
In addition, if we first perform a subalternation and then convert our result, then the truth of
an A proposition may be said, in "conversion by limitation," to entail the truth of an I
proposition with subject and predicate terms reversed: If "All singers are performers" then
"Some performers are singers." But this will work only if there really is at least one singer.
Generally speaking, however, conversion doesn't hold for A and O propositions: it is
entirely possible for "All dogs are mammals" to be true while "All mammals are dogs" is false,
for example, and for "Some females are not mothers" to be true while "Some mothers are not
females" is false. Thus, conversion does not warrant a reliable immediate inference with respect
to A and O propositions.

In Brief:
1. Conversion: interchanging the subject and predicate terms of a categorical proposition
(it is valid, or preserves the truth value) for the E and I propositions only)
2. Notice that the truth value is preserved for those statements with symmetrical distribution
status: the E and I.
3. If an A or O proposition is converted, an undetermined truth value results.
4. The complete table for conversion is as follows. Note especially that we are not
reversing the subject and predicate positions. Only the terms in the subject and
predicate are interchanged. For this reason, it might be helpful to invent actual classes
for S and P when you first study the relations.

If "All S is P" is given true, then "All P is S" is undetermined.

If "All S is P" is given false, then "All P is S" is undetermined.
If "No S is P" is given true, then "No P is S" is true.
If "No S is P" is given false, then "No P is S" is false.
If "Some S is P" is given true, then "Some P is S" is true.
If "Some S is P" is given false, then "Some P is S is false.
 If "Some S is not P" is given true, then "Some P is not S" is undetermined.
If "Some S is not P" is given false, then "Some P is not S" is undetermined.

5. Another way to remember that only the E and I statements preserve the truth value in
conversion is to note that flipping the E and I Venn Diagrams over results in the same
logical geography being displayed. I.e., their diagrams are symmetrical respectively.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Learning Activity: Conversion

B. OBVERSION
In order to form the obverse of a categorical proposition, we replace the predicate term of
the proposition with its complement and reverse the quality of the proposition, either from
affirmative to negative or from negative to affirmative. Thus, for example, the obverse of "All
ants are insects" is "No ants are non-insects"; the obverse of "No fish are mammals" is "All fish
are non-mammals"; the obverse of "Some musicians are males" is "Some musicians are not
non-males"; and the obverse of "Some cars are not sedans" is "Some cars are non-sedans."
Obversion is the only immediate inference that is valid for categorical propositions of every
form. In each of the instances cited above, the original proposition and its obverse must have
exactly the same truth-value, whether it turns out to be true or false.

In Brief:
1. Obversion: changing the quality and replacing the predicate term with its
complementary class (valid, or preserves truth value for all propositions--the A, E, I, and
O).
2. The complementary class is the class of everything not in the original class. E.g., the
complementary class of "lightbulbs" is "non-lightbulbs." Usually, one just tacks on "non-"
to obtain a complementary class. But note that the complementary class of "light bulbs"
is not "nonlight bulbs."
3. Often, in English, certain prefixes indicate complementary classes. For example, "un-,"
"in-," "de-," "im-," "dis-" and others are sometimes so used. However, English being what
it is, relying on the prefixes is risky. Consider "ravel" and "unravel" or "flammable" and
"inflammable" or "imflammable."  For this reason, it is usually safer to use the prefix
"non-" in a kind of logical pseudo-English.
4. Often common sense requires thinking what the true complement of a class is to be. The
complementary class of "objects to be admired" cannot be "non-objects to be admired."
Sometimes, only the context of the argument yields a clue as to the complementary
class. Be careful not to empty your classes--there are fundamental philosophical
implications here.
5. The complete table for obversion is as follows.

If "All S is P" is given true, then "No S is non-P" is true.

If "All S is P" is given false, then "No S is non-P" is false.
If "No S is P" is given true, then "All S in non-P" is true.
 If "No S is P" is given false, then "All S is non-P" is false.
If "Some S is P" is given true, then "Some S is not non-P" is true.
If "Some S is P" is given false, then "Some S is not non-P" is false.
If "Some S is not P" is given true, then "Some S is non-P" is true.
If "Some S is not P" is given false, then "Some S is non-P" is false.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Learning Activity: Obversion

C. CONTRAPOSITION
The contrapositive of any categorical proposition is the new categorical proposition that
results from putting the complement of the predicate term of the original proposition in the
subject place of the new proposition and the complement of the subject term of the original in
the predicate place of the new. Thus, for example, the contrapositive of "All crows are birds" is
"All non-birds are non-crows," and the contrapositive of "Some carnivores are not mammals" is
"Some non-mammals are not non-carnivores."
Contraposition is a reliable immediate inference for both A and O propositions; that is, the
contrapositive of any A or O proposition is true if and only if the original proposition was true.
Thus, in each of the pairs in the paragraph above, both propositions have exactly the same
truth-value.
In addition, if we form the contrapositive of our result after performing subalternation, then
an E proposition, in "contraposition by limitation," entails the truth of a related O proposition: If
"No bandits are biologists" then "Some non-biologists are not non-bandits," provided that there
is at least one member of the class designated by "bandits."
In general, however, contraposition is not valid for E and I propositions: "No birds are
plants" and "No non-plants are non-birds" need not have the same truth-value, nor do "Some
spiders are insects" and "Some non-insects are non-spiders." Thus, contraposition does not
hold as an immediate inference for E and I propositions.

In Brief:
1. Contraposition: replacing the subject term by the complement of its predicate term and
replace the predicate term by the complement of its subject term (valid, or preserves
truth value only for the A and O propositions).
2. Notice that contraposition is the same thing as successive obversion, conversion, and
obversion of a proposition. In effect, contraposition does these operations in one step.
Compare the following two inferences.

Statement Reason Truth Value

1. All S are P. given true
2. All non-P is non-S. contraposition true

Statement Reason Truth Value

1. All S are P. given true
2. No S are non-P. obversion true
3. No non-P is S. conversion true
4. All non-P is non-S. obversion true

3. It might be helpful to visualize this picture of the general operation of contraposition.

 4. Again for contraposition, as for obversion, one has to be careful about describing the
class complement for exactness.
5. The table for all the contrapositives is as follows.

If "All S is P" is given true, then "All non-P is non-S" is true.

If "All S is P" is given false, then "All non-P is non-S" is false.
If "No S is P" is given true, then "No non-P is non-S" is undetermined.
If "No S is P" is given false, then "No non-P is non-S" is undetermined.
If "Some S is P" is given true, then "Some non-P is non-S" is undetermined.
If "Some S is P" is given false, then "Some non-P is non-S" is undetermined.
If "Some S is not P" is given true, then "Some non-P is not non-S" is true.
If "Some S is not P" is given false, then "Some non-P is not non-S" is false.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Learning Activity: Contraposition

Omitting the troublesome cases of conversion and contraposition "by limitation," then, there
are exactly two reliable operations that can be performed on a categorical proposition of any
form:

A proposition: All S are P.

Obverse No S are non-P.
Contrapositive All non-P are non-S.
E proposition: No S are P.
Converse No P are S.
Obverse All S are non-P.
I proposition: Some S are P.
Converse Some P are S.
Obverse Some S are not non-P.
O proposition: Some S are not P.
Obverse Some S are non-P.
Contrapositive Some non-P are not non-S.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------Learning Activity: Immediate Inferences