Existential Import

A statement has existential import when its truth depends on evidence for
the existence of things in a certain category--in the case of categorical
propositions, the existence of things in the categories signified by its subject
and predicate terms.

Existential Import and Categorical Propositions

Consider the following propositions:

All unicorns have horns.

No perpetual motion machine has been patented.

Both are true even though there are no unicorns or perpetual motion
machines. Thus, these statements lack existential import.

Many modern logicians hold that existential import is a function of a

statement's logical form. According to this view, universal categorical
statements in general do not have existential import.

Statements that are particular in nature, however, do have existential import.

To say that some S are P, or that some S are not P, is to imply the existence
of Ss; if there are no Ss, then both statements are false.

Existential Import and the

Modern Square of Opposition
The classical square of opposition presupposes that the terms of any
categorical proposition have referents. If we adopt the modern doctrine about
existential import, then some of the relationships in the traditional square no
longer hold.

Subalternation and the Modern Square of Opposition

If the I proposition, "Some S are P" implies the existence of Ss, while the
corresponding A proposition does not, then the truth of the A proposition does
not imply the truth of the corresponding I. The same is true for E and O. In
other words, subalternation must be removed from the square.

Subcontrary and the Modern Square of Opposition

Two statements are subcontraries if, by virtue of their logical form, they could
both be true but could not both be false. However, if no Ss exist, then both
particular statements are false. I and O no longer fit the definition of
subcontraries. Thus, subcontrary must be removed from the square.

Contrary and the Modern Square of Opposition

Since neither of the universal statements have existential import, then they
are both true in the case where there are no Ss. Thus, A and E are no longer
contraries. Contrary must, then, be removed from the square.

Contradiction and the Modern Square of Opposition

The only relationship that survives in the modern square of opposition is that
of contradictories. If there exists a single thing that is both S and P, then
the I proposition is true and the E false. However, if nothing is both S and P,
then the I proposition is false and the E is true--even if the absence of things
that are both S and P is due to the fact that there aren't any Ss at all.

The same reasoning applies to the A and O propositions. So E is true if and

only if I is false, and A is true if and only if O is false.

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