Chapter 11: Categorical Arguments

COMM 300 - Argumentation, Final Exam

What are the 3 types of Deductive Reasoning?

1. propositional/conditional

2. disjunctive/enumerative

3. predicate/categorical

What are the 4 parts of a categorical argument?

1. quantifier

2. subject term

3. copula

4. predicate term

What is the quantifier?

the words - all, some, or no

What is the subject term?

the first class of things, what the sentence is about

What is the copula?

The words - are, are not, links subject and predicate

What is the predicate term?

The second class of things, what you are saying about the subject

What are the four types of categorical arguments?

• universal affirmative

• universal negative

• particular affirmative

• particular negative 

What would a universal affirmative statement look like?

All pineapples are juicy.

What would a universal negative statement look like?

No books are movies.

What would a particular affirmative statement look like?

Some people are strange.

What would a particular negative statement look like?

Some people are not woman.

What is the distribution of a universal affirmative statement?

Subject Term - Distributed

Predicate Term - Undistributed

What is the distribution of a universal negative statement?

Subject Term - Distributed

Predicate Term - Distributed

What is the distribution of a particular affirmative statement?

Subject Term - Undistributed

Predicate Term - Undistributed

What is the distribution of a particular negative statement?

Subject Term - Undistributed

Predicate Term - Distributed

To have a categorical argument, how many statements are there?

3

What are the first two sentences called?

premises

What is the last sentence called?

conclusion

What are the terms called that you label when looking at the validity of the argument?

End Terms and Middle Terms

What distinguishes the end terms from the middle terms?

end terms are found in the conclusion, middle terms link the end terms and are found in both premises

Does every term (middle and end) appear twice within a categorical argument?

yes

What is the first rule of validity?

the middle term must be distributed exactly once

What is the second rule of validity?

both end terms cannot be distributed exactly one, can be either no distribution or distributed twice. 

What is the third rule of validity?

the number of negative premises must meet the number of negative conclusions