Lesson 10

Immediate Reasoning.
In the process of Judgment we must compare two concepts
and ascertain their agreement or disagreement. In the process
of Reasoning we follow a similar method and compare two
judgments, the result of such comparison being the deduction
of a third judgment.
The simplest form of reasoning is that known as Immediate
Reasoning, by which is meant the deduction of one proposition
from another which implies it. Some have defined it as:
reasoning without a middle term. In this form of reasoning
only one proposition is required for the premise, and from that
premise the conclusion is deduced directly and without the
necessity of comparison with any other term of proposition.
The two principal methods employed in this form of
Reasoning are; (1) Opposition; (2) Conversion.
Opposition exists between propositions having the same
subject and predicate, but differing in quality or quantity, or
both The Laws of Opposition are as follows:
I. (1) If the universal is true, the particular is true. (2) If the
particular is false, the universal is false. (3) If the universal is false,
nothing follows. (4) If the particular is true, nothing follows.
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II. (1) If one of two contraries is true, the other is false. (2)
If one of two contraries is false, nothing can be inferred. (3)
Contraries are never both true, but both may be false.
III. (1) If one of two sub-contraries is false, the other is true.
(2) If one of two sub-contraries is true, nothing can be inferred
concerning the other. (3) Sub-contraries can never be both
false, but both may be true.
IV. (1) If one of two contradictories is true, the other is false.
(2) If one of two contradictories is false, the other is true. (3)
Contradictories can never be both true or both false, but always
one is true and the other is false.
In order to comprehend the above laws, the student should
familiarize himself with the following arrangement, adopted by
logicians as a convenience:
Propositions
Universal
Particular
Affirmative (A)
Negative (E)
Affirmative (I)
Negative (O)
Examples of the above: Universal Affirmative (A): All men are
mortal; Universal Negative (E): No man is mortal;
Particular
Affirmative (I): Some men are mortal; Particular Negative (O):
Some men are not mortal.
The following examples of abstract propositions are often
used by logicians as tending toward a clearer conception than
examples such as given above:
(A) All A is B.
(I) Some A is B.
(E) No A is B.
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65
(O) Some A is not B.
These four forms of propositions bear certain logical relations
to each other, as follows:

A and E are styled contraries. I and O are sub-contraries; A

and I and also E and O are called subalterns; A and O and also I
and E are styled contradictories.
A close study of these relations, and the symbols expressing
them, is necessary for a clear comprehension of the Laws of
Opposition stated a little further back, as well as the principles
of Conversion which we shall mention a little further on.
The following chart, called the Square of Opposition, is also
employed by logicians to illustrate the relations between the
four classes of propositions:
DICTORIES
CONTRA- DICTORIES
CONTRACONTRARIES
SUBALTERNS
SUB-CONTRARIES
SUBALTERNS
A E
I O
Conversion is the process of immediate reasoning by which
we infer from a given proposition another proposition having
the predicate of the original for its subject and the subject of
the original for its predicate; or stated in a few words: Conversion
is the transposition of the subject and predicate of a proposition.
As Brooks states it: Propositions or judgments are converted
when the subject and predicate change places in such a manner
that the resulting judgment is an inference from the given
judgment. The new proposition, resulting from the operation
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66
or Conversion, is called the Converse; the original proposition
is called the Convertend.
The Law of Conversion is that: No term must be distributed
in the Converse that is not distributed in the Convertend. This
arises from the obvious fact that nothing should be affirmed in
the derived proposition than there is in the original proposition.
There are three kinds of Conversion; viz: (1) Simple Conversion;
(2) Conversion by Limitation; (3) Conversion by Contraposition.
In Simple Conversion there is no change in either quality or
quantity. In Conversion by Limitation the quality is changed
from universal to particular. In Conversion by Negation the
quality is changed but not the quantity. Referring to the
classification tables and symbols given in the preceding pages of
this Lesson, we may now proceed to consider the application
of these methods of Conversion to each of the four kinds of
propositions; as follows:
The Universal Affirmative (symbol A) proposition is
converted by Limitation, or by a change of quality from
universal to particular. The predicate not being distributed in
the convertend, we must not distribute it in the converse by
saying all. Thus in this case we must convert the proposition,
all men are mortal (A), into some mortals are men (I).
The Universal Negative (symbol E) is converted by Simple
Conversion, in which there is no change in either quality or
quantity. For since both terms of E are distributed, they may
both be distributed in the converse without violating the law
of conversion. Thus No man is mortal is converted into: No
mortals are men. E is converted into E.
The Particular Affirmative (symbol I) is also converted by
Simple Conversion in which there is no change in either quality
or quantity. For since neither term is distributed in I, neither

term may be distributed in the converse, and the latter must

remain I. For instance; the proposition: Some men are mortal
is converted into the proposition, Some mortals are men.
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67
The Particular Negative (symbol O) is converted by
Conversion by Negation, in which the quality is changed but
not the quantity. Thus in converting the proposition: Some
men are not mortal, we must not say some mortals are not
men, for in so doing we would distribute men in the predicate,
where it is not distributed in the convertend. Avoiding this, we
transfer the negative particle from the copula to the predicate so
that the convertend becomes I which is converted by Simple
Conversion. Thus we transfer Some men are not mortal into
Some men are not-mortal from which we easily convert (by
simple Conversion) the proposition: Some not-mortals are
men.
It will be well for students, at this point, to consider the three
following Fundamental Laws of Thought as laid down by the
authorities, which are as follows:
The Law of Identity, which states that: The same quality
or thing is always the same quality or thing, no matter how
different the conditions in which it occurs.
The Law of Contradiction, which states that: No thing can at
the same time and place both be and not be.
The Law of Excluded Middle, which states that: Everything
must either be or not be; there is no other alternative or middle
course.
Of these laws, Prof. Jevons, a noted authority, says: Students
are seldom able to see at first their full meaning and importance.
All arguments may be explained when these self-evident laws
are granted; and it is not too much to say that the whole of
logic will be plain to those who will constantly use these laws
as the key.