Logic II Chapter 5

[waeligia]

Hello Mr. Cothran,

Regarding Rule I on page 42, why is it that the statement 'someone is looking at me' can be translated into 'some persons are persons who are looking at me'? How can 'someone' which is singular be translated into 'some persons' which is plural?

Thank you,

Waseem

[spiland]

Waseem,

Thank you for the post. Remember that propositions have two characteristics, quality and quantity. Basically, when you see an I statement or an O statement in Logic, you are looking at a particular proposition. All that "particular" means in this case is "at least one" and not "All" or "No". In the example "Someone is looking at me", translating it to this wouldn't make sense:

Some person is a person looking at me

The better "translation", if you will, is:

Some persons are persons looking at me (Some persons still logically means "At least one" person)

Hope this helps!

Scott

[waeligia]

Thank you! It did help!!