Part 1: Introduction to Logic
Part II: Term Logic
Part III: Aristotle’s Logic of Propositions
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Part I: Lesson

In the previous lesson, we learned about the Universal Affirmative and Universal Negative propositions. Now we will address the Particular Affirmative and Particular Negative propositions. These are the other two types of categorical propositions. They can be defined as follows:

  • Particular Affirmative (Some A’s are B’s): a proposition stating that some member(s) of a given category (A) are also members of another category (B). This takes the form “Some S are P,” where S is the Subject and P the Predicate. 
  • Particular Negative (Some A’s are not B’s): a proposition stating that some member(s) of a given category does not belong to another category. This takes the form “Some S are not P,” where S is the Subject and P the Predicate. 

It is also important to note that, as with universal propositions, Particular Affirmative and Negative propositions can each be true or false. We want to avoid confusing the word “affirmative” with the word “true” and the word “negative” with the word “false.”