A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive, 7th Edition, Vol. I — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive, 7th Edition, Vol. I
John Stuart Mill · en
Words which are not capable of being used as names, but only as parts of
names, were called by some of the schoolmen Syncategorematic terms: from
_σὺν_, with, and _κατηγορέω_, to predicate, because it was only _with_
some other word that they could be predicated. A word which could be
used either as the subject or predicate of a proposition without being
accompanied by any other word, was termed by the same authorities a
Categorematic term. A combination of one or more Categorematic, and one
or more Syncategorematic words, as A heavy body, or A court of justice,
they sometimes called a _mixed_ term; but this seems a needless
multiplication of technical expressions. A mixed term is, in the only
useful sense of the word, Categorematic. It belongs to the class of what
have been called many-worded names.
For, as one word is frequently not a name, but only part of a name, so a
number of words often compose one single name, and no more. These words,
"the place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the
residence of the Abyssinian princes," form in the estimation of the
logician only one name; one Categorematic term. A mode of determining
whether any set of words makes only one name, or more than one, is by
predicating something of it, and observing whether, by this predication,
we make only one assertion or several. Thus, when we say, John Nokes,
who was the mayor of the town, died yesterday--by this predication we
make but one assertion; whence it appears that "John Nokes, who was the
mayor of the town," is no more than one name. It is true that in this
proposition, besides the assertion that John Nokes died yesterday, there
is included another assertion, namely, that John Nokes was mayor of the
town. But this last assertion was already made: we did not make it by
adding the predicate, "died yesterday." Suppose, however, that the words
had been, John Nokes _and_ the mayor of the town, they would have formed
two names instead of one. For when we say, John Nokes and the mayor of
the town died yesterday, we make two assertions; one, that John Nokes
died yesterday; the other, that the mayor of the town died yesterday.
It being needless to illustrate at any greater length the subject of
many-worded names, we proceed to the distinctions which have been
established among names, not according to the words they are composed
of, but according to their signification.