1

Chapter 9 and 10

A LITTLE
CATEGORICAL/
PROPOSITIONAL
LOGIC
VALIDIT
Y
A valid deductive argument is an
argument in which it is impossible for all
premises to be true and the conclusion
false.
 Deductive argument

vali invali
d d

Soun Unsoun
d d
 • Inductive argument

stron wea
g k

Cogen Uncogent
t
CATEGORICAL
LOGIC

VENN DIAGRAMS
 Categorical statements
• A categorical statement makes a claim about the
relationship between two or more categories or
classes of things.
•

Standard-form categorical statement:

• All S are P (Ex: All Democrats are liberals)
• No S are P (Ex: No Democrats are liberals)
• Some S are P (Ex: Some Democrats are liberals)
• Some S are not P (Ex: Some Democrats are not liberals)
 Venn
1. diagram
is a Democrat but not a
liberal.
2. is both a Democrat and a
liberal.
3. is a liberal but not a
Democrat.
4. is neither a Democrat
nor a liberal

X X

Ex: All Democrats are liberals Ex: No Democrats are liberals

 Translating into standard
categorical form
For simplicity, you may, if you wish, assign variables to
each of the three terms.
C S
D
All caffeinated drinks are
stimulants.
C All forms of offee have
c caffeine.
All forms of coffee are mulant
sti s.
All CD are S All C
are CD All C are S
 Translating into standard categorical form

• The standard categorical forms has four basic parts:

1. Quantifier: all, no, or some
2. Subject (S): a word or phrase that names a class or that
serves as the grammatical subject of the sentence.
3. Predicate (P): a word or phrase that names a class or that serves
as the subject complement of the sentence.
4. Verb: some form of the verb “to be”
Ex: All Democrats are liberals.
tip
s
• Rephrase all nonstandard subject and predicate categorical
form:
• EX:
• All actors are vain.
All actors are vain people.
• Some roses are white.
Some roses are white flowers.
tip
s
• Rephrase all nonstandard verb: (are/ are not)
• EX:
• Some students walk to school.
Some students are persons who walk to school.
• All the northern countries were flooded.
All the northern countries are places that were flooded.
tip
s
• Fill in any unexpressed quantifiers
• EX:
• Californians are health nuts
Some Californians are health
nuts
• Texans are friendly
Some Texans are
friendly
(Not: All Texans are friendly)
 tip
• s Translate singular statement as all or no statement:
•
A singular statement makes a claim about a particular
person, place or thing.
• e.g.
• Paris is the capital of France:
All places identical with Paris are places that are the
capital of France.
• An wasn’t born in HCMC.
No person identical with An are persons who were born in
HCMC
tip
s
•
Translate stylistic variants into the appropriate
categorical form:
•
Stylistic variants: different way of saying essentially
the same thing.
• Common stylistic variants of “ All S are P”
- Every S is a P
(ex: Every licensed driver is older than 18 yrs)
- Whoever is an S is a P
- Any S is P
- The only S are P
- Something is an S only if it is a P
tip
s Common stylistic variants of “ No S are P”
•

- No P are S
- S are not P
- Not one who is an S is a P
- All S are not P
• Common stylistic variants of “ Some S are P”
Many S are P; a few S a P; Some P are S
• Common stylistic variants of “ Some S are not P”
A few S are not P, Not all S are P
Categorical
Syllogisms
•
A syllogism is a three line deductive arguments that
consists of two premises and a conclusion. (All
statement are categorical statements)
EX: No islands are part of the mainland and Hawaii
is an island. Therefore, Hawaii is not on the
mainland.

Some modems are cable connections and some cable

connections are digital. Thus, some modems are
digital
 Venn Diagram
A Venn Diagram consists of three overlapping circles which
represent the three terms in the syllogism and their
relationship with each other.
CD

All CD are
S All C are
CD All C
are S S
C
 Venn Diagram

what in the Venn Diagram represents exactly

what is in the premises of the syllogism; nothing
more and nothing less.
CD
There are three steps in this process:
1. Draw premise one.
2. Draw premise two.
3. Check the validity.

C S
 Venn Diagram
C
D
All CD are
S All C are
CD All C
are S

C S

Step 1: present Premise 1 “All CD are S”:

Focus on the CD and S circles only. Our rule is
to shade EMPTY areas.
 Venn Diagram

All CD are
S All C are
CD All C
are S

Step 2: present Premise 2: All C are CD.

All the items in C are also in CD. Thus the rest of
C is empty and should be shaded.
 Venn Diagram
All CD are
S All C are
CD All C
Step 3. Check for are S
validity.
If valid, the conclusion in
the drawing is necessarily
true.
If the drawing allows for
the possibility of the
conclusion being false then
the syllogism is invalid.

What do you think? Valid

or Invalid? Vali
d
 Venn Diagram - Example
E R

All educated people respect books.

Some bookstore personnel are not truly
educated. Some bookstore personnel don’t
respect books.
B
Translated
All E are R
into Some B are not
standard E Some B are
form not R
Be clear that:
E = Educated people
R = People who respect
books. B = Bookstore
personnel
 Venn Diagram - Example

All E are R E
Some B are not
E Some B are
not R
Draw premise 1: All E are
R
All E are inside R, so we B R
know that the rest of E is
empty. We represent this
empty area by shading it.
 Venn Diagram - Example
All E are R E
Some B are not X
E Some B are
not R
Draw the second
premise.
X X
“some” as “at least one” and
represent it with an “X.” So B R
we want to put an X inside
the B circle but outside of the
E circle.
We want to say exactly what the premises say, but no
more.
 All E are
Venn Diagram - R
Some B are not
Example E Some B are
not R
E
E

X X X
? ?
B R
B R

If we opt for the blue X, we are saying “some B are not

R,” If we opt for red X, we are saying, “Some B are R,”
Both are not in the premises either.
 Put X on the line implied that we are not sure which
side.
 Venn Diagram - Example
All E are R
Some B are not E
E Some B are
not R

Is it true that some B are not R?

X?

B R

No, this is an invalid argument.

The “X” shows that there may be
some B that are not R, but not
necessarily.
 Venn Diagram - Example
I H M

No islands are part of the mainland and Hawaii is

an island. Therefore, Hawaii is not on the
mainland.
No I are I
Translated M All H
into are I No
standard H are M
form
“No I are M”
Nothing that is an I is inside the M
circle. So, all the things inside I, if H M
there are any, are in the other parts
of the circle.
 Venn Diagram - Example
I
No I are M All H
are I No H are M
“All H are I”
Everything that is in the H circle is also
in
H M
the I circle. Thus, the rest of the H circle
is empty and should be shaded.
Step 3: check validity.
Is the conclusion necessarily true from the picture
that nothing in the H circle is in the M circle?
Yes, this is a valid argument!
 Venn Diagram - Example
M C

Some modems are cable connections and some cable

connections are digital. Thus, some modems are
digital.
D C
Some M are
Translated C Some C
into standard are D Some
form X
M are D
Some
Draw Mtheare C premise. At least one
first
thing in M is also in C. Where M D
should the “X” go?
 C
Venn Diagram - Example
Some M are
C Some C X
are D Some X
M are D
“ Some C are D”. M D
Where should the “X” go to represent
‘at least one’ C that is inside the D
circle?
Again, the “X” must go on the line.Our drawing can
never be more precise than the premise is. Is it
Valid?
There is no guarantee, from the premises that the
conclusion is true.There may or may not be an M in
the D circle.
 Venn Diagrams

1. Put your syllogism in standard form first.

2. Be consistent in how you draw
your diagram.
3. Draw each premise exactly.
4. Test validity by looking for the necessity
of the conclusion.
Summar
y Translate all statements into standard form
•

• Draw and label three overlapping circles, one for each

term in the argument, with the two circles for the
conclusion at the bottom.
• Diagram two premises
• Use shading to represent the information in all or no
statements. Use X’s to represent the information in SOME
statements “Some S are P”
• Check validity. See if the diagram contains all the
information presented in the conclusion. If it does, the
argument is valid. If it doesn’t, the argument is invalid
Exercis
No sharks are pets, since no barracuda are pets, and no
e sharks are barracuda
1.

2. No farmers are city dwellers. Hence, since all city

dwellers are urbanites, no urbanites are farmers.
3. All curmudgeons are pessimists. All pessimists are
cynics. So, some cynics are curmudgeons.
4. No beach bums are workaholics. Some beach bums are
rollerbladers. So, some rollerbladers are not workaholics.
5. All violinists are musicians. Therefore, since some
bookworms are violinists, some bookworms are
musicians.