Reasoning: Immediate Inference
Definition of Reasoning
• Reasoning is a mental operation through
which the agreement or disagreement of two
ideas is referred from their known relation to
a common third idea.
Methods of Reasoning
• There are two methods involved in reasoning:
(1) induction and (2) deduction.
Induction or inductive reasoning is one which
proceeds from individual or particular data to
general or universal conclusion.
Example:
Juan is a man.
Juan is mortal.
+ All men are mortal.
Deduction or deductive reasoning is one which
proceeds from universal data to particular
individual conclusion.
Example:
All animals are mortal.
All humans are animals.
+ All humans are mortal.
Definition of Inference
• Inference refers to any process through which the mind
proceeds from one or more propositions whose meaning
are already implied in the former.
Example:
All men are mortal.
Julius is a man.
+ Julius is mortal.
John is a man.
+ John is mortal.
Kinds or Inference
1. Immediate Inference
-is a process of reasoning through which the
mind passes directly from one proposition to a
new proposition which is nothing else but a
reformulation of the very exact meaning or
truth as expressed in the original proposition.
-does not offer any advancement of
knowledge.
-contains two terms, namely, subject term
and predicate term.
Example:
No metals are stones.
(S) (P)
+ No stones are metals.
• Eduction. This is a kind of immediate inference
where a new proposition is being formulated
either by interchanging the subject and
predicate terms of the original proposition or
by the use or removal of negatives.
• There are four kinds of eduction, namely,
conversion, obversion, contraposition, and
inversion.
Conversion. This is refers to a formulation of a new
proposition by way of interchanging the subject and the
predicate terms of an original proposition. However, the
quality of the original proposition is retained. Conversion
has two parts namely, Convertend (the original
proposition) and the Converse (the new proposition).
Example:
No fish is a mouse. (Convertend)
(S) (P)
No mouse is a fish. (Converse)
(P) (S)
Two kinds of Conversion
• Simple Conversion is a kind of conversion
where the quantity of the convertend is
retained in the converse. Hence if the
convertend is particular, the converse must
also be particular. Bear in minds that of the
four types of categorical propositions (A, E, I,
and O) only E and I propositions can be simply
converted.
Example:
No men are mortals. (E)
+ No mortals are men. (E)
Some mortals are men. (I)
+ Some men are mortals. (I)
• If only “E” and “I” propositions can be
converted, it follows that “A” and “O”
propositions cannot be converted by simple
conversion. An “A” propositions cannot be
converted by simple conversion because the
quantity of the predicate term in the
convertend (which is particular) which
becomes the subject term in the converse
(which now becomes universal) cannot be
retained.
• In the convertend, the quantity of the
predicate term is particular, but in the
converse, the quantity of the subject term is
universal. So, we cannot convert.
All dogs are animals. (A) to
(Su) (Pp)
+ All animals are dogs. (A)
(Su) (Pp)
• Like an “A” proposition, an “O” proposition
cannot be simply converted. The reason is that
the subject term of the convertend, being
made the predicate term of a negative
proposition, would be changed from a
particular term to a universal term. So, we
cannot convert.
