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Proposition - Definition and Kinds

philosophy proposition definitio and kinds

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Shabir Ahmed
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472 views1 page

Proposition - Definition and Kinds

philosophy proposition definitio and kinds

Uploaded by

Shabir Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Question: What is a proposition? What are the various kinds of propositions?

Answer: Propositions are the building blocks of our reasoning. A proposition asserts that
something is the case or it asserts that something is not the case. We may affirm a proposition, or
deny it—but every proposition either asserts what really is the case, or it asserts something that
is not really the case. Therefore, every proposition is either true or false. This quality of being true
or false is called the truth value of a proposition. For example, the truth value of the proposition
‘Delhi is the capital of India’ is true, while the truth value of ‘Bangalore is the capital of India’ is
false. Every proposition has a truth value. (Define Proposition.) (What is meant by the truth
value of a proposition?)

There are many propositions about whose truth we are uncertain. “There is life on some other
planet in our galaxy,” for example, is a proposition that, so far as we now know, may be true or
may be false. Its truth value is unknown, but this proposition, like every proposition, must be
either true or false.

To express a proposition, we always need a sentence in some language, but all sentences do not
express propositions. For example, an interrogative sentence asserts nothing, and therefore it is
not a proposition. Only declarative sentences express propositions, and are true or false. In fact,
propositions are often defined as the contents of declarative sentences. A proposition is simply
the meaning of a sentence. (How is a proposition different from a sentence?)

There are many types of propositions, depending on what basis they are being categorized. For
example, there are affirmative propositions (A cat is an animal) and negative propositions (A dog
is not an insect), and there are universal propositions (All girls are females) and particular
propositions (Some boys are athletes). However, one of the main classifications of propositions
is one the basis of how they are composed. On this basis, there are two types of propositions:

A) Simple Propositions: A simple proposition is a statement containing no connectives. In


other words, a proposition is considered simple if it cannot be broken up into sub-
propositions. A simple proposition has only one subject and one predicate.

Examples: Love is happiness.


Tigers are carnivores. (Define Simple Proposition.)

B) Compound Propositions: When two or more simple propositions are combined into a
single proposition, we get a compound proposition.

Example: She is graceful but cannot act. (Define Compound Proposition.)

This compound proposition is a combination of two simple propositions – ‘She is graceful,’


and ‘She cannot act.’ These simple propositions are connected by a conjunction ‘but’.

The word ‘but’ in the above example is called a logical connective. Other logical
connectives include ‘and,’ ‘if…then,’ etc. (Name any two logical connectives.)

Other examples:
o Violence does not pay and leads to unhappiness.
o Either he is honest or dishonest.
o If Rahul comes home, then you must cook khichdi.

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