LESSON 5 JUDGEMENT AND PROPOSITION

(For Classroom purposes only)

JUDGMENT
A. MEANING
Although we have learned that ideas or concepts are the basic elements of
knowledge, we should remember that ideas by themselves are neither true or false.
There can be truthfulness or falsity in a statement only if we take 2 or more terms,
compare them and eventually state an agreement or disagreement between them.
Only then can we validate their truth or falsity.
In our previous discussions, we have tackled that concepts signified by terms
is achieved through a process called simple apprehension. However, concepts alone
is not sufficient for us to claim that we have knowledge. Knowledge is attained only
when we validly affirm or deny something about a thing through the enunciation of
complete sentences. Only when we identify and recognize the truth in a statement
could we say that we have knowledge of a thing. This act of recognizing the truth in
statements fall within the mental act that we call JUDGEMENT.
JUDGMENT is defined as THE SECOND ACT OF THE INTELLECT BY WHICH IT
PRONOUNCES THE AGREEMENT OR DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN TERMS OR IDEAS. It
is the act by which the intellect compares and expresses the objective identity or
non-identity between ideas.
For example: when we say that the apple is red, the intellect either affirms or
denies the truth claim of the statement about the individual object apple that is
red.
B. NATURE OF JUDGMENT
Before judgment can be performed, certain acts should be observed:
1. Apprehension of the two concepts ( one must at least explicitly show a
conceptual feature not present to the other)
2. Mental comparison of the two concepts by which the mind comprehends
them together
3. Perception of the objective identity or non-identity of the two concepts.
4. Pronouncements of the identity or non identity of one concept with
another.
When the pronouncement is in agreement with reality, it is called formal
truth. When the pronouncement disagrees with reality, it is called formal falsehood.
Either way, the end product of judgment is called ENUNCIATION.
NOTE: Logic primarily deals with the validity of an argument and not really on the
truth of an argument. Strictly speaking, the truthfulness and falsity of judgment falls
within the realm of Epistemology and not logic.
PROPOSITION
A. MEANING
A Proposition is defined as judgment expressed in a sentence. It is the sign
or representation of a mental pronouncement (enunciation). As a representation of
judgment, every proposition must enunciate either a truth or falsity. A proposition
becomes categorical when it directly declares a characteristic of a thing
unconditionally.
B. NATURE OF A PROPOSITION
Ideas are mental concepts expressed in words which
we call terms

Judgments are mental comparison expressed in sentences which

we call propositions

1. A sentence is a proposition when it is in the

indicative mood (declarative) and must
always be express in the present tense
according to the real order.

All propositions are

sentences
but not all sentences are
propositions

2. A sentence is not a proposition when it is expressed in interrogative, imperative

and exclamatory sentences.
C. PARTS OF A PROPOSITION
A proposition is always comprised of three elements: the subject, the
predicate, and the copula.
1. The Subject term is a term designating the idea about which the pronouncement
is made. It is the object to which something is affirmed or denied. It refers to the
WHO and the WHAT of the statement.
NOTE:
1.) caution should be practice in cases of inversion of subject and
predicate.
2.) Impersonal subjects should be re-arranged to show the real subject.
3.) In a proposition, the presence of subject and predicate must always be
observed despite their arrangement.
2. The Predicate term is the term designating the idea that is affirmed or denied
about subject.
NOTE:
when it happens that the grammatical predicate conceals the logical
predicate, the grammatical predicate must be analyze to reveal the logical
predicate. If however, the verb use as predicate in pronounced in the negative then
the quality of the resulting logical proposition could either be positive or negative.
3. The Copula is the term expressing the mental act, which pronounces the
agreement or disagreement between the subject and predicate. The copula is
usually expressed as a linking verb i.e. is, are, am, is not, are not, am not. The
copula is considered as the soul of the proposition because it is responsible in
expressing the affirmation of negation contained in the proposition.
NOTE: 1.) The copula should always be used in the present indicative mood of the
verb to be. If propositions are stated in a manner referring to past or future event,
the proposition should be reduced to its present tense. Like in hidden predicates,
copulas when hidden in a proposition should be re-stated to reveal them nut caution
should be maintained not change the meaning of the proposition.
2.) Sometimes a single proposition could have two copulas, one in the main
proposition and another in a qualifying clause. E.g. A man [who is strong] is healthy.
4. QUANTIFIERS are not considered as a part of a proposition but are important
because they determine the quantity of the subject class. Unlike in grammar
whereas the subject would include the quantifier, the subject- term in logic is
considered as distinct from the quantifier.
To illustrate:
All
Quantifier

men
subject term

are

rational.
Copula

predicate term

D. KINDS OF CATEGORICAL PROPOSITIONS

1.) QUALITY OF A PROPOSITION
a.) it is an affirmative proposition if the class designated by its subject term is
included, either as a whole or only in part, within the class designated by its
predicate term.
Rules to observe:
i. The predicate is always affirmed of the subject according to the whole of its
comprehension and according to a part of its extension.
ii. The predicate should not be disturbed and use as particular, never as a universal.
b.) it is a negative proposition if it wholly or partially excludes members of the
subject class from the predicate class
Rules to observe:
i. The predicate is always denied of its subject according to only a part of its
extension.
ii. The whole of the comprehension of the predicate never applies to the subject, but
a part of the comprehension does.
iii. The predicate is always taken according to its whole extension as a universal and
then denied of the subject. Both subject and predicate belong to totally different
classes and neither one belongs to the class of the other
NOTE: The quality of a proposition affects the copula, making the proposition either
affirmative or negative. If a proposition has a positive copula, then the proposition is
affirmative. If a proposition has a negative copula, then it is negative.
2.) QUANTITY OF A PROPOSITION
a.) Singular proposition when the subject applies to a single individual only.
b.) Particular proposition when the subject is a universal term used partly
and indeterminately. The subject is quantified by indefinite modifiers and articles.
c.) Universal proposition when the subject is a universal term applied
distributively to each and all of the class.
d.) Collective proposition when the subject is a collective term, applying to
all taken together as a class, but not to the individuals composing the class.
e.) indefinite proposition when the proposition has no definite quantifier
assigned to the subject. The quantity of the proposition falls on the general sense of
the statement and the manner to which it was used.
NOTE:
i.) Singular and collective propositions are treated as universal propositions.
ii.) The quantity of the proposition should not be confused with the quantity of the
predicate term unless the predicate term is singular, then, regardless of the quality
of the proposition, its quantity becomes singular.
iii.) if the predicate term is not singular and the proposition is affirmative, then the
predicate term must be particular.
iv.)if the predicate term is not singular and the proposition is negative, then the
predicate term must be universal.
E. FOUR STANDARD FORMS OF CATEGORICAL PROPOSITIONS
The letters A, E, I, and O are the traditional symbols for the four standard
forms of categorical propositions. To illustrate:
A

All

Are

Quantity
Universal

Quality
Affirmative

E
I
O

No
Some
Some

S
S
S

Are
Are
Are not

P
P
P

Universal
Particular
Particular

Negative
Affirmative
Negative

A propositions it is a universal affirmative proposition, which asserts that every

member of a class designated by the subject term is also included in the class
designated by the predicate term.
Its standard form is :
All S are P.
E propositions it is a universal negative proposition, which asserts that nothing
is a member both of the class designated by the subject term and of the class
designated by the predicate term.
Its standard form is:
No S are P.
I propositions it is a proposition, which asserts that there is at least one thing,
which is a member of the class, designated by the subject term but not a member
of the class designated by the predicate term. Its standard form is:
Some S are
P.
O propositions it is a proposition, which asserts that there is at least one thing,
which is a member of the class, designated by the subject term but not a member
of the class designated by the predicate term. Its standard form is:
Some S are
not P.
F. DISTRIBUTION OF TEMRS IN A CATEGORICAL PROPOSITION
The technical term distribution is used to characterize the ways in which
terms can occur in categorical propositions. A distributed term is a term of the
categorical proposition that is used with reference to every member of a class. If the
term is not being use to refer to each and every member of the class, then the term
is considered as undistributed.
Letter
Form

Proposition

Distribution
Subject

Predicate

All S are P

Distributed

Undistributed

No S are P

Distributed

Distributed

Some S are P

Undistributed

Undistributed

Some S are not P

Undistributed

Distributed

NOTE: The quantity of a standard form categorical proposition determined the

distribution of the subject (such that if the quantity is universal), the subject is
distributed and if the quantity is particular, the subject is undistributed. To help y
memorize the rule of distribution:
Universal distributes Subjects
Negatives distributes Predicates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Use the space below for additional Notes: