So what is an argument?

An argument is a sequence of statements that is sentences that can be true or false, one of which, the one called the conclusion is claimed to be true because the other statements in the sequence which are called premises are true. In other words in an argument the conclusion follow from the premises. Example: (A1) ( remise 1) All humans are mortal beings. ( remise !) All left"handed pitchers are human #herefore ($onclusion) All left"handed pitchers are moral beings %ow arguments can be of two t&pes: deductive and inductive. Argument (A1) is a deductive arguments. #his means that if the premises of this argument are true then its conclusion cannot be false. 'ere is another example of a deducti(e argument: (%ote I will not discuss inducti(e arguments in this segment.s (A!) remise 1. All Humans are Mortal Beings remise !. All Italians are Humans #herefore, $onclusion: All Italians are Mortal Beings CATEGORICAL STATEMENTS )oth of these deducti(e arguments are *nown as s&llogisms. +&llogism which we shall stud& extensi(el& are made up of a certain *ind of statement that is *nown as a $ategorical +tatement. $ategorical statements alwa&s express a relationship between two classes of things. ,or example the first premise of the s&llogistic argument A1 A1 remise 1: All humans and moral beings a irms that the class of humans are part of the class of morta! "eings. #his means that it is an A irmative #niversa! Categorica! Statement. It is s&mboli-ed b& the letter A. #here are enormous amount of A irmative #niversa! Statements which share the same form which is described using letters as in: All .s are /s 'ere the letters . and / represent classes, so the formula represents a di(erse number of categorical Affirmati(e 0ni(ersal +tatements which in include the first premises of arguments A1 and A! abo(e as well as All odd numbers are odd numbers All mammals are animals All football pla&ers weigh more than ten pounds. Etc. etc. etc. Another important categorical statement that can be found in s&llogisms are called Negative #niversa! Categorica! Statements. #his statements are also about two classes, but instead of affirming that the members of one class is also a member of the other class, as does the Affirmati(e 0ni(ersal $ategorical statement, the Negative #niversa! Categorica! Statement denies that an& member of one class belongs to the other. ,or example, the following statement is an example of a #niversa! Negative Categorica! Statement: E1. %o men are 1omen Another example would be: E!. %o odd numbers are e(en numbers. #he general form of Negative #niversa! Categorica! Statement is %o .s are /s #he general form of the %egati(e 0ni(ersal $ategorical +tatement is abbre(iated b& the letter E. %ote that both E1 and E! are %egati(e 0ni(ersal +tatements and 2ust li*e in the case of Affirmati(e 0ni(ersal +tatements that a multitude of statement can ha(e that form. %ow let us consider that $ategorical statements that are found in s&llogistic arguments that are not uni(ersal. #here are two of these and both are about classes, but the& do not either affirm or den& an&thing about a!!members of a class things, the& affirm or den& onl& about some members of a class of things. +o instead of the word A!!, the& will use the word Some. 'ere is an example. I1. +ome cats are blac* things I!. +ome odd numbers are rime numbers )oth I1 and I! are affirmati(e statements, but the& are not uni(ersal statements because the& do not refer to all members of a class. Instead of 0ni(ersal these affirmati(e categorical statements are called particular.

In fact these categorical statements are called A irmative $articu!ar Categorica! Statements and their form is s&mboli-ed with the letter I. I: +ome .s are /s. Again there are man& categorical statements that ha(e this form. 'ere are a few: +ome cows are mil*"cows3 +ome Insects are poisonous creatures3 +ome 'ea(enl& bodies are planets. Etc. etc. etc. ,inall& we ha(e the %egati(e articular $ategorical +tatement. In these we *eep the word some and introduce the word not because the Negative $articu!ar Categorica! Statement asserts that at least one member of a class does not belong to another class. 'ere are two examples: 41: +ome men are not tall things. 4!: +ome animals are not mammals. #he general form of the Negative $articu!ar Categorica! Statement is represented with the following formula and abbre(iated with the word 4. 4: +ome .s are not /s. %ow &ou can imagine man& of these statements. +o pic* three and send them to me in an e mail. In fact I would li*e &ou to send me in an e mail three examples of the four *inds of $ategorical +tatements &ou ha(e 2ust studied: A %A irmative #niversa!& whose general form is All .s are /s E %Negative #niversa!& whose general for is %o .s are /s I %$articu!ar A irmative& whose general form is +ome .s are /s 4 %$articu!ar Negative& whose general form is +ome .s are not /s.