Categorical Propositions

Categorical propositions are statements about classes of things. A class is a group of objects.
There are two class terms in each categorical proposition, a subject class and a predicate class.

The study of categorical propositions includes the logical structure of individual categorical
propositions (how the subject and predicate classes relate to each other), as well as how correct
reasoning proceeds from one categorical proposition to another.

There are four types of categorical proposition:

A-proposition: Asserts that the entire subject class isincluded in the predicate class.

o Standard-form of the A-proposition: All S are P.

o This is the universal affirmative proposition.

I-proposition: Asserts that at least one member of the subject class is included in the
predicate class.

o Standard form of the I-proposition: Some S are P.

o This is the particular affirmative proposition.

E-proposition: Asserts that the entire subject class isexcluded from the predicate class.

o Standard-form of the E-proposition: No S are P.

o This is the universal negative proposition.

O-proposition: Asserts that at least one member of the subject class is excluded from the
predicate class.

o Standard-form of the O-proposition: Some S are not P.

o This is the particular negative proposition.

B. Quantity, Quality, and Distribution

A categorical proposition is made up not only of a subject class and a predicate class, but also
a quantifier (universal or particular) and a copula (conjugation of the verb, to be, which
usually appears as are and are not. The quantifier tells us how much of the subject class is
included in or excluded from the predicate class, while the copula joins the subject-predicate
elements together.
We have seen that the categorical proposition can be viewed in terms of the quantity of the
subject classs relation to the predicate class, but we also consider the quality of that relation,
that is, whether or not the relation is affirmed (All S are P, and Some S are P) or negated
(No S are P, and Some S are not P).

To understand the relation between the subject class and the predicate class, we need to know not
only the quantity and quality of the proposition but also whether a class is distributed. We say a
class is distributed when the entirety of the class is included in or excluded from the other class:

All Sd are Pu. The subject term is distributed in a universal affirmative proposition
because the entirety of the subject class is included in the predicate class. Since the scope
of the universal affirmative proposition covers only the subject class, there is no
distribution of the predicate term.

Some Su are Pu. Neither the subject nor predicate term is distributed. This is because the
scope of the quantifier does not cover the entirety of either class.

No Sd are Pd. Both the subject and predicate terms are distributed. This is because, by
definition, when the entirety of the subject class is excluded from the predicate class, the
converse is also the case.

Some Su are not Pd. The subject class is excluded from the entire predicate class. This
means that the entirety of the predicate class excludes from itself at least one member of
the subject class.

UA/A All S is P. (None of S is outside of P.)

UN/E No S is P. (None of S is inside of P.)

PA/I Some S is P. (At least one S is inside of P.)

PN/O Some S is not P. (At least one S is not inside of P.)