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Single Idea 9405

[filed under theme 4. Formal Logic / A. Syllogistic Logic / 1. Aristotelian Logic ]

Full Idea

Square of Opposition: horizontals - 'contraries' can't both be true, and 'subcontraries' can't both be false; verticals - 'subalternatives' have downwards-only implication; diagonals - 'contradictories' have opposite truth values.

Gist of Idea

Square of Opposition: not both true, or not both false; one-way implication; opposite truth-values

Source

Aristotle (On Interpretation [c.330 BCE], Ch.12-13)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'Categories and De Interpretatione', ed/tr. Ackrill,J.R. [OUP 1963], p.62


A Reaction

This is still used in modern discussion (e.g. by Stalnaker against Kripke), and there is a modal version of it (Fitting and Mendelsohn p.7). Corners read: 'All F are G', 'No F are G', 'Some F are G' and 'Some F are not G'.

Related Idea

Idea 15879 The Square of Opposition has two contradictory pairs, one contrary pair, and one sub-contrary pair [Harré]


The 15 ideas with the same theme [Aristotle's original account of formal syllogistic logic]:

Socrates developed definitions as the basis of syllogisms, and also inductive arguments [Socrates, by Aristotle]
Aristotle's later logic had to treat 'Socrates' as 'everything that is Socrates' [Potter on Aristotle]
Square of Opposition: not both true, or not both false; one-way implication; opposite truth-values [Aristotle]
Aristotle was the first to use schematic letters in logic [Aristotle, by Potter]
Aristotelian syllogisms are three-part, subject-predicate, existentially committed, with laws of thought [Aristotle, by Hanna]
Aristotelian sentences are made up by one of four 'formative' connectors [Aristotle, by Engelbretsen]
Aristotelian identified 256 possible syllogisms, saying that 19 are valid [Aristotle, by Devlin]
Aristotle replaced Plato's noun-verb form with unions of pairs of terms by one of four 'copulae' [Aristotle, by Engelbretsen/Sayward]
Aristotle listed nineteen valid syllogisms (though a few of them were wrong) [Aristotle, by Devlin]
Modern notation frees us from Aristotle's restriction of only using two class-names in premises [Putnam]
Aristotelian logic is complete [Shapiro]
Aristotelian logic cannot express 'Everyone loves someone' [White,RM]
The four 'perfect syllogisms' are called Barbara, Celarent, Darii and Ferio [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
Syllogistic logic has one rule: what is affirmed/denied of wholes is affirmed/denied of their parts [Engelbretsen/Sayward]
Traditional term logic struggled to express relations [Engelbretsen]