Deductive Logic by St. George William Joseph Stock
page 81 of 381 (21%)
page 81 of 381 (21%)
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266. An Exclusive Proposition is so called because in it all but a
given subject is excluded from participation in a given predicate, e.g. 'The good alone are happy,' 'None but the brave deserve the fair,' 'No one except yourself would have done this.' 267. By the above forms of expression the predicate is declared to apply to a given subject and to that subject only. Hence an exclusive proposition is really equivalent to two propositions, one affirmative and one negative. The first of the above propositions, for instance, means that some of the good are happy, and that no one else is so. It does not necessarily mean that all the good are happy, but asserts that among the good will be found all the happy. It is therefore equivalent to saying that all the happy are good, only that it puts prominently forward in addition what is otherwise a latent consequence of that assertion, namely, that some at least of the good are happy. 268. Logically expressed the exclusive proposition when universal assumes the form of an E proposition, with a negative term for its subject No not-A is B. 269. Under the head of exclusive comes the strictly particular proposition, 'Some A is B,' which implies at the same time that 'Some A is not B.' Here 'some' is understood to mean 'some only,' which is the meaning that it usually bears in common language. When, for instance, we say 'Some of the gates into the park are closed at nightfall,' we are understood to mean 'Some are left open.' |
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