Skip to main content
Log in

Singular Propositions, Negation and the Square of Opposition

  • Published:
Logica Universalis Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper contains two traditions of diagrammatic studies namely one, the Euler–Venn–Peirce diagram and the other, following tradition of Aristotle, the square of oppositions. We put together both the traditions to study representations of singular propositions (through a diagram system Venn-i, involving constants), their negations and the inter relationship between the two. Along with classical negation we have incorporated negation of another kind viz. absence (taking a cue from the notion of ‘abhãva’ existing in ancient Indian knowledge system). We have also considered the changes that take place in the context of open universe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Barwise, J., Etchemendy, J.: Visual information and valid reasoning. In: Allwein, G., Barwise, J. (eds.) Logical Reasoning with Diagrams, pp. 3–25. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1990)

  2. Bernhard P.: Visualization of the square of opposition. Logica Universalis 2, 31–41 (2008)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Béziau, J.Y., Payette, G. (eds.) The square of opposition. In: A General Framework for Cognition. Peter Lang, Bern (2012)

  4. Choudhury L., Chakraborty M.K.: On representing Open Universe. Stud. Logic 5(1), 96–112 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Choudhury, L., Chakraborty, M.K.: On extending Venn diagram by augmenting names of individuals. In: Blackwell, A., et al. (eds.) Diagrams 2004, LNAI 2980, pp. 142–146 (2004)

  6. Choudhury, L., Chakraborty, M.K.: Comparison between spider diagrams and venn diagrams with individuals. In: Proceedings of the Workshop Euler Diagrams 2005. INRIA, Paris (2005)

  7. Choudhury, L., Chakraborty, M.K.: Singular propositions and their negations in diagrams published in the proceedings of DLAC 2013. In: CEUR Workshop Proceedings, vol. 1132 (2013). http://ceur-ws.org/

  8. Euler, L.: Letters a une princesse d’allemagne, Sur divers sujets de physique et de philosophie. Letters No. 102–108, vol. 2. Basel Birkhauser (1761)

  9. Hammer E.: Logic and Visual Information. CSLI Pubs., USA (1995)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. Hopcroft J.E., Ullman J.D.: Formal Languages and Their Relations to Automata. Addison-Wesley, London (1969)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  11. Horn L.R.: A Natural History of Negation. CSLI Pub, USA (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Khomiskii, Y.: William of Sherwood, Singular Proposition and the Hexagon of Opposition. In: Béziau, J.Y., Payette, G. (eds.) The Square of Opposition. A general Framework for Cognition, pp. 43–57. Peter Lang, Bern (2012)

  13. Larkin J.H., Simon H.A.: Why a diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words. Cognit. Sci. 11, 65–99 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Krishna M.B.: Logic, Language and Reality. Motilal Banarasidass. Pub, New Delhi (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Peirce, C.S.: Collected Papers of C.S.Peirce. iv, HUP (1933)

  16. Russell B.: Philosophy of Logical Atomism: Logic and Knowledge. Unwin Hyman, London (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Sharma, S.S.: Interpreting square of oppositions with the help of diagrams. In: Béziau, J.Y., Payette, G. (eds.) The Square of Opposition. A general Framework for Cognition, pp. 174–192. Peter Lang, Bern (2012)

  18. Shin S.J.: The Logical Status of Diagrams. CUP, Cambridge (1994)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. Stapleton, G.,Taylor J., Thompson S., Howse, J.: The expressiveness of spider diagrams augmented with constants. J. Vis. Lang. Comput. 20(1), 30–49 (2009)

  20. Stapleton G., Howse J., Taylor J.: A decidable constraint diagram reasoning system. J. Logic Comput. 15(6), 975–1008 (2005)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  21. Stapleton, G.: Incorporating negation into visual logics: a case study using Euler diagrams. Vis. Lang. Comput., 187–194 (2007)

  22. Swoboda N., Allwein, G.: Heterogeneous reasoning with Euler/Venn diagrams containing named constants and FOL. Electron. Not. Theor. Comput. Sci. 134, 153–187 (2005)

  23. Tadeusz C.: On certain peculiarities of singular propositions. Mind 64, 392–395 (1955)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Venn J.: On the diagrammatic and mechanical representation of propositions and reasoning. Philos. Mag. J. Sci. Ser. 5 10(59), 1–18 (1880)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mihir Kumar Chakraborty.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Choudhury, L., Chakraborty, M.K. Singular Propositions, Negation and the Square of Opposition. Log. Univers. 10, 215–231 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11787-016-0145-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11787-016-0145-0

Mathematics Subject Classification

Keywords

Navigation