[Footnote 2: The objection taken to the word "indefinite,"
that the quantity of particular propositions is indefinite,
_some_ meaning any quantity less than all, is an example of
the misplaced and frivolous subtlety that has done so much
to disorder the tradition of Logic. By "indefinite" is
simply meant not definitely expressed as either Universal
or Particular, Total or Partial. The same objection might be
taken to any word used to express the distinction: the degree
of quantity in Some S is not "designate" any more than it is
"definite" or "dioristic".]
[Footnote 3: _Generally._ In this word we have an instance of
the frequent conflict between the words of common speech and
logical terminology. How it arises shall be explained in next
chapter. A General proposition is a synonym for a Universal
proposition (if the forms A and E are so termed): but
"generally" in common speech means "for the most part," and is
represented by the symbol of particular quantity, _Some_.]
[Footnote 4: With some logicians it is a mechanical rule in
reducing to syllogistic form to treat as I or O all sentences
in which there is no formal expression of quantity. This is to
err on the safe side, but common speakers are not so guarded,
and it is to be presumed rather that they have a universal
application in their minds when they do not expressly
qualify.]
III.--SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES.
_The formula for_ EXCLUSIVE PROPOSITIONS. "None but the brave deserve
the fair": "No admittance except on business": "Only Protestants can
sit on the throne of England".
These propositions exemplify different ways in common speech of naming
a subject _exclusively_, the predication being made of all outside a
certain term. "None that are not brave, etc.;" "none that are not on
business, etc.;" "none that are not Protestants, etc.". No not-S is
P. It is only about all outside the given term that the universal
assertion is made: we say nothing universally about the individuals
within the term: we do not say that all Protestants are eligible, nor
that all persons on business are admitted, nor that every one of the
brave deserves the fair. All that we say is that the possession of the
attribute named is an indispensable condition: a person may possess
the attribute, and yet on other grounds may not be entitled to the
predicate.
The justification for taking special note of this form in Logic is
that we are apt by inadvertence to make an inclusive inference from
it. Let it be said that None but those who work hard can reasonably
expect to pass, and we are apt to take this as meaning that all who
work hard may reasonably expect to pass. But what is denied of every
Not-S is not necessarily affirmed of every S.
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