Brain

Reasoning Process

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Reasoning

We are communicating beings. To do so, there is structure in our speech, no matter which language we speak.

Each idea is a premise or proposition, having two terms: a subject and a predicate. Thus, the subject is the thought about which an assertion is made. The predicate is that which is asserted about the subject term.

The link between the subject and the predicate complement is in the form of a verb, but does not have to be equivocation (the subject does not have to be equivalent to the predicate). This link sometimes is called a copula.

An example is:

Elmo® is a red stuffed toy.
Beanie Babies® are popular stuffed toys.
Puffkins® are small stubby stuffed toys.

Elmo® is a stuffed toy, but not all stuffed toys are red. There are qualifiers which can make the terms (subject or object) particular or unique or individualized (specific). A qualifier can make the terms universal or general in nature, covering many categories.

Examples of quantifiers:

All Beanie Babies® have ty tags.
"All" is a quantifier, making the subject universal.
Some Puffkins® have blue furry feet.
"Some" is a quantifier, making the subject particular.

An aspect of categorical reasoning is the concept of distributions. Distributions are the terms (subject or predicate) fitting a particular category (or class). Examples of distributions:

All Beanie Babies® are expensive.
The subject is quantified to cover all of the class Beanie Babies&reg. It is totally distributed (universal to that class). The predicate is undistributed. It does not limit or include any of the other expensive limited edition stuffed toys. This is a universal proposition.

Some of the Puffkins® have blue furry feet.

The subject is distributed to a few, not all of the Puffkins&reg. This is a particular proposition.

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