Logic -- Juvenile literature; Logic, Symbolic and mathematical
Let us express, the "no nice Cakes are unwholesome (Cakes)", i.e.
"no y-Cakes are m'-(Cakes)". This tells us that none of the Cakes
belonging to the y-half of the cupboard are in its m'-compartments
(i.e. the ones outside the central Square). Hence the two compartments,
No. 9 and No. 15, are both 'EMPTY'; and we must place a grey counter
in EACH of them, thus:--
-----------
|0 | |
| --|-- |
| | | | |
|--|-----|--|
| | | | |
| --|-- |
|0 | |
-----------
We have now to express the other Premiss, namely, "some new Cakes
are unwholesome (Cakes)", i.e. "some x-Cakes are m'-(Cakes)". This
tells us that some of the Cakes in the x-half of the cupboard are
in its m'-compartments. Hence ONE of the two compartments, No.
9 and No. 10, is 'occupied': and, as we are not told in WHICH of
these two compartments to place the red counter, the usual rule
would be to lay it on the division-line between them: but, in this
case, the other Premiss has settled the matter for us, by declaring
No. 9 to be EMPTY. Hence the red counter has no choice, and MUST
go into No. 10, thus:--
-----------
|0 | 1|
| --|-- |
| | | | |
|--|-----|--|
| | | | |
| --|-- |
|0 | |
-----------
And now what counters will this information enable us to place in
the SMALLER Diagram, so as to get some Proposition involving x and
y only, leaving out m? Let us take its four compartments, one by
one.
First, No. 5. All we know about THIS is that its OUTER portion
is empty: but we know nothing about its inner portion. Thus the
Square MAY be empty, or it MAY have something in it. Who can tell?
So we dare not place ANY counter in this Square.
Secondly, what of No. 6? Here we are a little better off. We
know that there is SOMETHING in it, for there is a red counter in
its outer portion. It is true we do not know whether its inner
portion is empty or occupied: but what does THAT matter? One solitary
Cake, in one corner of the Square, is quite sufficient excuse for
saying "THIS SQUARE IS OCCUPIED", and for marking it with a red
counter.
As to No. 7, we are in the same condition as with No. 5--we find
it PARTLY 'empty', but we do not know whether the other part is
empty or occupied: so we dare not mark this Square.
And as to No. 8, we have simply no information at all.
The result is
-------
| | 1 |
|---|---|
| | |
-------
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account