Chapter 9: Objectives

Following are the main learning objectives from the chapter.  To help you coordinate your studies, these objectives are organized into sub-sections (9-1, 9-2, etc.) and listed with
the relevant page numbers from the textbook. 

9-1 (pgs. 271-272)
Understand what categorical logic is.

• Understand the historical context of categorical logic beginning with Aristotle.
• Recognize how categorical logic is applicable to thinking critical in every-day life.

9-2 (pgs. 272- 281)
Recognize that all categorical logic is comprised categorical claims

• Recognize and understand the four standard form categorical claims.
• Recognize and differentiate between the subject and predicate terms in categorical claims.
• Understand how Venn diagrams can be drawn to represent standard form categorical claims.
• Remember that a shaded area in a Venn diagram represents an empty class.
• Differentiate affirmative from negative standard form categorical claims.

9-3 (pgs. 274-281)
Understand that categorical logic relies on the translation of normal English claims into their standard form categorical equivalents.

• Realize that normal English sentences often need to be rephrased significantly to fit within the parameters of the four types of standard form categorical claims.
• Understand how to translate claims in the past tense.
• Understand how to translate claims which include the words "only," and "the only."
• Understand how to translate claims about times and places.
• Understand how to translate claims about single individuals.
• Understand how to translate claims that use mass nouns.

9-4 (pgs. 281-289)
Understand how the square of opposition illustrates the logical relationships among all corresponding categorical claims.

• Understand what corresponding categorical claims are.
• Understand that A and E claims are contrary claims.
• Understand that I and O claims are subcontrary claims.
• Understand when empty classes lead to exceptions in the rules of the square of opposition.
• Understand that A and O claims are contradictory, as are E and I claims.

9-5 (pgs. 283- 289)
Understand the three operations which, along with the square of opposition, allow the drawing of inferences from categorical claims.

• Understand how to produce the converse of a categorical claim and what the truth value of this converse is.
• Understand how to produce the obverse of a categorical claims and what the truth value of this obverse is.
• Understand what a term's complementary term is and how this concept applies to the operations of obversion and contraposition.
• Understand how to produce the contrapositive of a categorical claims and what the truth value of this contrapositive is.

9-6 (pgs.289-292)
Understand what a categorical syllogism is and its role in categorical logic.

• Recognize that a categorical syllogism is a type of deductive argument.
• Understand that all categorical syllogisms are comprised of three terms.
• Differentiate between the major, minor, and middle terms in a categorical syllogism.

9-7 (pgs.292-301)
Understand how to use Venn diagrams to test the validity of categorical syllogisms.

• Understand what it means for a deductive argument to be valid and invalid.

9-8 (pgs.301-304)
Understand how to use the set of three rules as a second test for the validity of a categorical syllogism.

• Recall the distinction between affirmative and negative claims.
• Understand what it means for a term to be distributed in a categorical claim.
• Memorize the three rules and understand how to apply them.