The Game of Logic eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 66 pages of information about The Game of Logic.

The Game of Logic eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 66 pages of information about The Game of Logic.
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|         |         |
|    _____|_____    |
|   |     |     |   |
|   |  0  |  0  |   |
|   |     |     |   |
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And now how are we to represent the contradictory Proposition “Some x are m”?  This is a difficulty I have already considered.  I think the best way is to place a red counter on the division-line between No. 11 and No. 12, and to understand this to mean that one of the two compartments is ‘occupied,’ but that we do not at present know which.  This I shall represent thus:—­

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|         |         |
|    _____|_____    |
|   |     |     |   |
|   |    -1-    |   |
|   |     |     |   |
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Now let us express “all x are m.”

This consists, we know, of two Propositions,

“Some x are m,”
and “No x are m’.”

Let us express the negative part first.  This tells us that none of the Cakes, belonging to the upper half of the cupboard, are to be found outside the central Square:  that is, the two compartments, No. 9 and No. 10, are empty.  This, of course, is represented by

-------------------
| 0       |       0 |
|    _____|_____    |
|   |     |     |   |
|   |     |     |   |
|   |     |     |   |
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But we have yet to represent “Some x are m.”  This tells us that there are some Cakes in the oblong consisting of No. 11 and No. 12:  so we place our red counter, as in the previous example, on the division-line between No. 11 and No. 12, and the result is

-------------------
| 0       |       0 |
|    _____|_____    |
|   |     |     |   |
|   |    -1-    |   |
|   |     |     |   |
-------------------

Now let us try one or two interpretations.

What are we to make of this, with regard to x and y?

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|         |       0 |
|    _____|_____    |
|   |     |     |   |
|   |  1  |  0  |   |
|   |     |     |   |
-------------------

This tells us, with regard to the xy’-Square, that it is wholly ‘empty’, since both compartments are so marked.  With regard to the xy-Square, it tells us that it is ‘occupied’.  True, it is only one compartment of it that is so marked; but that is quite enough, whether the other be ‘occupied’ or ‘empty’, to settle the fact that there is something in the Square.

If, then, we transfer our marks to the smaller Diagram, so as to get rid of the m-subdivisions, we have a right to mark it

-----------
|     |     |
|  1  |  0  |
|     |     |
-----------

which means, you know, “all x are y.”

The result would have been exactly the same, if the given oblong had been marked thus:—­

-------------------
| 1       |       0 |
|    _____|_____    |
|   |     |     |   |
|   |     |  0  |   |
|   |     |     |   |
-------------------

Once more:  how shall we interpret this, with regard to x and y?

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Project Gutenberg
The Game of Logic from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.