4 Categorical Propositions

4.7 TRANSLATING ORDINARY LANGUAGE

STATEMENTS INTO CATEGORICAL FORM
 1 Terms without Nouns

Some cars are red ----> Some cars are red things (or
red cars)
All clowns are happy ----> All clowns are happy people
(or happy goofballs)

The point is, some accurate noun, but no particular

noun, is required.
 2 Nonstandard Verbs

Other forms of “to be” beside “are” and “are not”

“Will”
Some book bindings will tear ---> Some book bindings are
bindings that will tear (or things that will tear)

“Have been”
Some guys have been swimming ---> Some guys are guys
that have been swimming (or people that have been
swimming)

Etc…
 2 Nonstandard Verbs (cont)

Some statements contain no form of the verb “to be”:

All puppies bark ---> All puppies are demons that bark
(or dogs that bark, or beasts that bark)
 3 Singular Propositions

Singular propositions are propositions that assert something

about a particular person, place, thing, or time:

Rookie is an evil dog ----> All dogs identical to rookie are evil
dogs

There is a sandwich on the counter ----> All places identical to

the counter are places with a sandwich

Or

There is a sandwich on the counter ----> Some sandwiches are

things on the counter
 4 Adverbs and Pronouns

Spatial adverbs:
Where, wherever, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere (translate as places)

Temporal adverbs:
When, whenever, anytime, always, never
(translate as times)

Anywhere you go, there you are ----> All places that you go are places that you
are

Nowhere is where I want to be ----> No places are places I want to be

Or

Nowhere is where I want to be ----> All places identical to nowhere are places
I want to be
 4 Adverbs and Pronouns

Personal pronouns:
Who, whoever, anyone (translate as persons)

Impersonal pronouns:
What, whatever, anything (translate as things)

Whoever misses class is in big trouble -----> All persons

who miss class are persons in big trouble

What goes up, must come down ----> All things that go up
are things that come down
 5 Unexpressed Quantifiers

You must use your understanding of what is being said

in a sentence to determine the quantifier:

A dog is a potential disaster ----> All dogs are potential

disasters

A dog is barking at me -----> Some dogs are dogs that

are barking at me
 6 Nonstandard Quantifiers

A few leaves have fallen ----> Some leaves are leaves that have fallen

Not one leaf is green -----> No leaves are green leaves

All children are not sports-inclined kids ----> Some children are not sports-
inclined kids

Or

All children are not fully educated kids -----> No children are fully educated
kids

Few dog bites seriously hurt me ----> Some dog bites are bites that seriously
hurt me and Some dog bites are not bites that seriously hurt me (read page
230 for an explanation of compound translations)
 7 Conditional Statements

“If, Then” statements are conditional statements; the part

following “if” is called the antecedent (what comes
before), and the part following “then” is called the
consequent (what comes after).

Conditional statements are translated as universal

propositions:

If it’s on the deck, then it’s mine ----> All things that are on
the deck are my things

If you want it, then you can’t have it -----> No things you
want are things you can have
 8 Exclusive Propositions

“Only,” “None but,” “None except,” “No … except” signal exclusive

propositions. The language following those ‘excluders’ goes in the
predicate term.

Only jerks drive off after dinging your door ----> All door dingers who
drive off are jerks

No teams except NFC North teams are good -----> All good teams are
NFC North teams

They like only KFC ----> All foods they like are KFC foods

(Read 232 about some cases that require compound translations)

 9 “The Only”

Unlike “only” the words that follow “the only” go in the

subject term position.

The only good Chicago Bear is Brian Urlacher ----> All

good Bears are players identical to Brian Urlacher
(compare to: Only Brian Urlacher is a good Chicago
Bear -----> All good Bears are players identical to
Brian Urlacher)
 10 Exceptive Propositions

“All except S are P” or “All but S are P” are exceptive

propositions and require TWO statements to capture
their meaning

All sandwiches except hoagies are icky hot ----> No hot

hoagies are icky sandwiches and All hot non-hoagies
are icky sandwiches

All but Toyotas are unreliable cars ----> No Toyotas

are unreliable cars and All non-Toyotas are
unreliable cars