LOGICAL TERMS.
=1. LOGICAL THOUGHT AND LANGUAGE INSEPARABLE.=
Any impression upon the mind tends to manifest itself in some form of
expression. Impression which arouses thought tends to expression in the
form of symbols. Thought and symbol go hand in hand. Expression, taking
the form of word-symbols, constitutes a word-language.
It is commonly supposed that language is serviceable mainly in
communicating one’s thoughts to others, but language does service
in another way which is quite as important. It tends to clarify and
make definite all thought. Without a word-language thinking would
lack continuity; would be vague, loose, illogical. The right use of a
word-language, therefore, is a necessary adjunct to logical thought.
The basic element of a word-language is the logical term.
=2. MEANING OF LOGICAL TERM.=
A notion has been referred to as any product of the knowing mind.
When we express these notions in words such expressions may be called
logical terms.
Definition. _A logical term is a word or a group of words denoting
a definite notion._ Illustrations: Honesty, Chicago, tree, walking,
the man who was ill, beautiful roses. This is a list of logical terms,
because each word or group of words denotes a _notion_ of some kind.
It is now evident that any subject or predicate with its modifiers
constitutes a logical term. In the proposition, “The beautiful red
house on the hill, owned by Mr. Jones, has burned,” the term used
as the subject consists of eleven words. The reader must not confuse
logical terms with grammatical parts of speech. “Of” is a preposition
but not a logical term, as no definite notion is indicated.
=3. CATEGOREMATIC AND SYNCATEGOREMATIC WORDS.=
There are some words which, when used alone, denote definite notions,
such as man, tree, dog, justice. On the other hand there are other
words which, when used alone, do not stand for a definite notion, such
as up, beautifully, a, and.
Words like those in the first list are called categorematic words,
while those in the second list illustrate syncategorematic words.
DEFINITION.
_A categorematic word is one which forms a logical term unaided by
other words. A syncategorematic word is one which must be used with
other words to form a logical term._
Any word or group of words which can be used as either subject or
predicate of a proposition is a logical term. If the _one_ word in
question can be used as either subject or predicate of a proposition
then it must be a categorematic word. If it is impossible to use the
one word as either subject or predicate of a proposition then this is
a sure indication that such a word is syncategorematic. For example,
there is no sense in the expressions, “_And_ is honest,” “_Of_ is not
true”; hence _and_ and _of_ are syncategorematic.
We may conclude from this that nouns, descriptive adjectives and
verbs may be categorematic words, while adverbs, prepositions and
conjunctions are syncategorematic words.
=4. SINGULAR TERMS.=
_A singular term is a term which denotes one object or one attribute._
Proper nouns, when they stand for individuals, are singular terms, such
as John Adams, Mississippi River, Socrates. Some proper names stand for
a class of objects, as the Caesars, the Mephistopheles, the Napoleons.
But when thus used they lose their character as proper names. Such
names, therefore, are general terms, not singular.
Common nouns may be made singular by some modifying word, as the first
man, the pole star, the highest good, my pet dog, etc.
Certain attributes which imply a _oneness_ or a distinct individuality
are singular, such as absolute justice, birds-egg blue, perfect
happiness, etc.
Some claim that terms like water, air, salt, etc., are singular, as
they stand for one thing. This, however, cannot be if such terms admit
the possibility of classification as: hard water, soft water, mineral
water.
=5. GENERAL TERMS.=
_A general term is one which denotes an indefinite number of objects or
attributes._
Class-names are general terms, such as men, chair, tree, army, nation.
Words like redness, sweetness, justice, are probably general in that
they denote a combination of qualities or may be subdivided into kinds.
The way the term is employed in the proposition should determine its
singular or general nature.
=6. COLLECTIVE AND DISTRIBUTIVE TERMS.=
_A collective term is a general term which indicates an indefinite
number of objects as one whole._ Such words as class, crowd, army,
forest, nation, are collective.
_A distributive term is a general term which indicates an indefinite
number of objects as a whole, and also may be used to refer to each one
of the group separately._ Such as man, pupil, tree, book.
It is easy to distinguish collective from distributive terms when we
attempt to use them in the designation of individuals. Pointing to
a body of troops, one may remark, “There is the regiment.” But when
pointing to _one man_ in the regiment, he could hardly say, “There is
the regiment.” “Regiment” is therefore collective because it may be
used with reference to the whole body of troops but cannot be used in
connection with any individual of that body. On the other hand in the
sentence, “Man is mortal,” “man” refers to the whole family of men. It
also indicates any one of them. As, “This man, John Doe, is mortal.”
Thus “man” is distributive. The distributive term, therefore, can be
used in a two-fold sense; namely, to denote the whole or to denote each.
It must be noted that, viewed from a different standpoint, some
collective terms become distributive in nature. As for example in the
proposition, “The army of the world is composed of able bodied men,”
_army_ is used with reference to all armies. While it may be used to
designate some particular army, as The American army.
Collective terms have been classified as general terms. It must
be borne in mind, however, that such may be made singular by some
modifying word. For example, _people_ is a general term, but _American
people_ is a singular term in that it refers to one people, being thus
limited by the word American.
=7. CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT TERMS.=
_A concrete term is a term which denotes a thing_; e. g., this man,
that tree, John Doe, denote in each case a thing. Man and tree, denote
many things. All are concrete.
_An abstract term is a term which denotes an attribute of a thing_;
e. g., whiteness, patience, squareness, are abstract terms.
Such words as red, honest, just, are concrete; while redness, honesty,
justice, are abstract.
On first thought it might be inferred that “red” is the name of
an attribute just as much as “redness.” This is a mistaken thought,
however, as when we use the word red we mean red something――an _object_
which is red in color, not the color itself. For example, in saying
the house is red, we refer to the thing that is red, not to the color
redness.
Descriptive adjectives, because they describe things, are concrete.
They do not alone name qualities of things, hence they are not abstract.
=8. CONNOTATIVE AND NON-CONNOTATIVE TERMS.=
_A connotative term is one which denotes a subject and at the same
time implies an attribute._ (A subject is anything which possesses
attributes.)
All concrete general terms are connotative because they denote subjects
and at the same time stand for certain attributes; e. g., “man” denotes
many subjects; in fact, it stands for all the men in the world; it also
implies rationality, the power of speech, power of locomotion, etc.
“Triangle” stands for all plane figures of three sides; it likewise
stands for the qualities, three-sided, three-cornered, etc. Both “man”
and “triangle” are connotative.
_A non-connotative term is one which denotes a subject only, or implies
an attribute only._ Such words as Boston, Columbus, The Elizabeth
White, denote a subject only. “Blueness,” “justice,” “width,” imply an
attribute only. All these terms are non-connotative. The words blue,
just, wide, are connotative. “Blue,” for example, denotes all blue
things, as the blue sky, the blue sea; at the same time “blue” implies
that something possesses the quality, _blueness_.
Generally speaking, proper and abstract nouns are non-connotative;
though such proper nouns as Mount Washington, Mississippi River, are,
no doubt, connotative, as they denote an object and imply at least one
attribute. In the case of Mount Washington an object is surely denoted,
and the attribute mountainous is implied. Any proper noun which conveys
definite information is connotative. It may be claimed that all proper
nouns give information. For example, to many _Boston_ indicates not
only an object, but the qualities common to a city. In reply it may
be said that “Boston” might indicate a boat, or a dog, or almost any
individual object.
=9. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TERMS.=
_A positive term is one which signifies the possession of certain
attributes_; e. g., metal, man, teacher, happy, honest.
_A negative term is one which signifies the absence of certain
attributes_; e. g., inorganic, unhappy, non-metallic.
Terms which have the prefix not, non, un, in, dis, etc., or the affix
less, are usually considered negative. The fact that there are some
exceptions to this must not be overlooked. For example, unloosed,
invaluable, are positive terms.
In theory every positive term has its corresponding negative; as pure,
impure; organic, inorganic; metal, non-metal; good, not-good.
In some instances the language does not supply the word with the
negative prefix because no need of it has been felt. The only way to
express the negative of such words as good, table, etc., is to prefix
“not” or “non.”
=10. CONTRADICTORY AND OPPOSITE TERMS. (See page 38).=
Positive terms with their negatives have contradictory meanings and
therefore are referred to as contradictory terms. For example, honest
and not-honest, metallic and non-metallic, perfect and imperfect,
are contradictory terms. Such terms are mutually destructive. When we
assert the truth of one we also imply the falsity of the other. If, for
example, we assert that Abraham Lincoln was honest, we carry with this
assertion the implication that Lincoln was not not-honest, or that any
statement to the effect that he was not honest is false.
Contradictory terms, when used in a sentence, illustrate the law of
excluded middle, as in the statements: “John’s recitation is either
perfect or imperfect.” “This teacher is either just or not-just.”
There is no middle ground in such propositions.
When contradictory terms are used in classification the whole is
divided into but two classes; e. g.:
honest not-honest
agreeable not-agreeable
metallic non-metallic
perfect imperfect
pure impure
organic inorganic
All the men in the world are either honest or not-honest. All the
substances in existence are either organic or inorganic, etc.
It will also be seen from this list that the contradictory of the
positive form is not always indicated by using the prefix. Honest
and dishonest, or agreeable and disagreeable, are not contradictory
terms. In the case of agreeable and disagreeable, there seems to be
the middle ground of absolute indifference. For example: the music of
the orchestra is agreeable while the humming of the enthusiast back
of me is decidedly disagreeable; but as to the noise upon the street,
it is neither agreeable nor disagreeable as long practice has made me
indifferent to it.
When there is any doubt as to the terms being contradictory, the safest
plan is to prefix “not” or “non” to the positive form.
Terms which oppose each other but do not contradict are said to be
opposite or contrary terms. The following list illustrate opposite
terms:
hot cold
cool warm
less greater
wise foolish
bitter sweet
soft hard
tall short
agreeable disagreeable
All these terms admit of a medium. In the case of hot or cold, for
example, a substance need not necessarily be either. It may be warm or
cool.
Terms seem to be contradictory when it is a matter of quality, but
opposite when it is a question of quantity or degree.
=11. PRIVATIVE AND NEGO-POSITIVE TERMS.=
_A privative term is one which is positive in form but negative in
meaning._ Such words as blind, deaf, dumb, dead, maimed, orphaned, are
privative terms, in that there is no negative prefix or suffix and yet
they denote the absence of certain qualities. “Blind,” for example, is
positive in form, but denotes absence of sight.
_A nego-positive term is one which is negative in form but positive
in meaning._ Such terms as invaluable, unloosed, immoral, indwell, are
nego-positive because, though they have negative prefixes, yet they
possess a certain positive meaning. “Invaluable,” for instance, does
not mean not-valuable, but very valuable.
=12. ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE TERMS.=
_An absolute term is one whose meaning becomes intelligible without
reference to other terms._ Automobile, water, tree, house, book, are
absolute terms. Any of them may be made clear to a child or a foreigner
without special reference to other terms. For example, the child will
recognize from certain common marks the automobile every time he sees
it. The marks of tree, house, flower, are apparent to every one.
_A relative term is one which derives its meaning from its relation
to some other term._ Parent, teacher, shepherd, monarch, eldest, cause,
commander, are relative terms. For example, in explaining the meaning
of “_parent_” to a foreigner, reference must be made to “_child_.”
The pairs of terms thus associated are spoken of as correlatives.
Parent and child, teacher and pupil, shepherd and flock, monarch and
subject, eldest and youngest, cause and effect, commander and army,
are correlative terms. Either one of each pair is the correlate to the
other, and every relative term needs its correlate to make its meaning
clear. To say that a relative term denotes an object which cannot be
thought of without reference to some other object, is confusing, as it
is quite impossible to think of any object without calling to mind some
other object or notion. Fire calls to mind water; tree suggests shade,
etc.
=13. OUTLINE.=
LOGICAL TERMS.
(1) Meaning of term.
(2) Categorematic and syncategorematic words.
(3) Kinds of terms.
Singular terms.
General terms.
(a) Collective terms.
(b) Distributive terms.
Concrete and abstract terms.
Connotative and non-connotative terms.
Positive and negative terms.
Contradictory and opposite terms.
Privative and nego-positive terms.
Absolute and relative terms.
=14. SUMMARY.=
A logical term is a word or group of words denoting a definite notion.
A singular term is a term which denotes one object or one attribute.
A general term is a term which denotes an indefinite number of objects
or attributes.
General terms are collective or distributive.
A collective term is a general term which indicates an indefinite
number of objects considered as _one whole_.
A distributive term is a general term which indicates an indefinite
number of objects as a whole and also may be used to refer to each one
of the group separately.
A concrete term is a term which denotes a thing.
An abstract term is a term which denotes the attribute of a thing.
A connotative term is one which denotes a subject and at the same time
implies an attribute.
A non-connotative term is one which denotes a subject only or implies
an attribute only.
A positive term is one which signifies the possession of certain
attributes.
A negative term is one which signifies the absence of certain
attributes.
In theory every positive term has its negative. As related to each
other positive and negative terms are said to be contradictory. If
one denotes a true notion then the other denotes a false notion.
Some terms oppose each other but do not flatly contradict. As related
to each other such terms are said to be opposite.
A privative term is one which is positive in form but negative in
meaning.
A nego-positive term is one which is negative in form but positive in
meaning.
An absolute term is one whose meaning becomes intelligible without
reference to other terms.
A relative term is one which derives its meaning from its relation to
some other term.
=15. ILLUSTRATIVE EXERCISES.=
(1a) The words in italics are categorematic.
(1) “_Honesty_ is the _best policy._”
(2) “_A wise teacher_ never _scolds._”
(3) “The _woodcock_ has a _long bill_ and _eyes high_ up on the
_head._”
NOTE――If there is any doubt as to such words as never, on, etc., being
syncategorematic, attempt to use them as subject or predicate of a
proposition; e. g., John is _never_.
(1b) Underscore the categorematic words in the following:
(1) “Socrates was the greatest teacher of pagan times.”
(2) “Play is nature’s way of teaching a child how to work.”
(3) “A man may be what he chooses if he is willing to pay the price.”
(2a) In the following, words enclosed in parentheses are logical terms:
(1) (“All men) are (mortal.”)
(2) (“The law of identity) is (one of the primary laws of thought.”)
(3) (“Judging) is (the process of conjoining and disjoining
notions.”)
(2b) Indicate the logical terms in the sentences under 1b.
(3a) The logical characteristics of the term _teacher_ are
(1) general term,
(2) distributive term,
(3) concrete term,
(4) connotative term,
(5) positive term,
(6) relative term.
(3b) The logical characteristics of other terms are as follows:
(1) Goodness――general, abstract, non-connotative, positive, abstract.
(2) Soft――general, concrete, non-connotative, positive, “hard” is its
opposite, “not-soft” is its contradictory, absolute.
(3) Disagreeable――general, concrete, non-connotative, “agreeable”
is its opposite, “not-disagreeable” is its contradictory,
nego-positive, absolute.
(4) Aristotle――singular, concrete, non-connotative, positive,
absolute.
(5) Class――general, collective, concrete, connotative, positive,
relative.
(3c) Give the logical characteristics of the following terms: justice,
Abraham Lincoln, tree, library, America, president, principle, sympathy,
dumb, nation.
=16. REVIEW QUESTIONS.=
(1) What is the connection between logical thinking and language?
(2) Why is _man_ a categorematic word?
(3) Why is _beautifully_ syncategorematic?
(4) Distinguish between singular and general terms.
(5) Show how a collective term may be used in a distributive sense.
(6) Why are the words _tree_ and _book_ distributive?
(7) Distinguish between concrete and abstract terms.
(8) Define and illustrate a non-connotative term.
(9) Why are concrete general terms connotative?
(10) Distinguish between positive and privative terms.
(11) Why is not the word _immoral_ negative?
(12) Give the opposite of “hot.” What is the contradictory of “hot”?
(13) Distinguish by definition and illustration between relative and
absolute terms.
(14) What is the correlate of the word _effect_?
=17. QUESTIONS FOR ORIGINAL THOUGHT AND INVESTIGATION.=
(1) Is it possible to think independent of language?
(2) May words be spoken or written without thought? Illustrate.
(3) Are categorematic words always logical terms?
(4) Must all the words of a logical term be categorematic?
(5) Are pronouns and auxiliary verbs categorematic?
(6) Indicate the logical connection between the terms of a
proposition and the termini of a railroad.
(7) Show that attribute is a broader term than quality.
(8) Is the word _Washington_ general or singular? Give reasons.
(9) Make the word _dog_ a singular term.
(10) Give an illustration where the word _class_ would not be
collective.
(11) “All the members of the baseball team are star players.”
How has the term _star players_ been used, collectively or
distributively?
(12) Why may the term _New York City_ be connotative to a New Yorker
and non-connotative to a Patagonian?
(13) So far as your present knowledge of the martyred president
Abraham Lincoln is concerned, is the term _Abraham Lincoln_
connotative or non-connotative?
(14) Are non-connotative terms always singular? Illustrate.
(15) Are singular terms always non-connotative?
(16) What is the difference in meaning between immoral and unmoral,
disagreeable and not-agreeable?
(17) Why is immoral a nego-positive term while unmoral is negative?
(18) What is the contradictory of the opposite of _wise_?
(19) Show that there is some ground for believing all terms to be
relative.
(20) Is _army_ a relative term? If “army” were used so as to be
distributive in nature would it then be general or collective?
(21) Why should the pronoun be ignored by the logician?
(22) Show the difference between thing and subject.
(23) Argue to the effect that no term can be non-connotative.