Supposition theory

As supposition is referred to in the logic of scholasticism different ways in which a term for something stand or can refer to something. An explanation of these different types are referred to as Suppositionstheorie.

A Suppositionstheorie found in many treatises of medieval logic and in most logic sums, as for example, where William of Ockham, William of Sherwood and Walter Burleigh. In the following, the core of these theories, the one about which most medieval authors agree, are presented.

The supposition relates to Termini, so general terms as they occur, for example in the syllogism. For example, in the sentence " homo est animal", " man is a sense of being," both "homo " and " animal" a term. It will now be the following types of supposition distinguished:

  • Suppositio materialis - substantive Supposition: A term stands for itself and for this the word that forms the terminus. Example "homo est nomen " - " 'man' is a noun ." Here the term " homo" for the word " homo" is itself
  • Suppositio simplex - simple supposition: A term stands for the term designated by him. Example "homo est species" - "Man is a kind of". The term "homo " stands for the human species as such.
  • Suppositio personaliz - personal supposition denotes the normal case, namely that a terminus for its individual instances is, that is, " man " for the individual. The personal supposition in turn has several subtypes, depending on whether the term all or only some of these instances may refer to: suppositio determinata - certain supposition: A term stands for an assembly of such that the sentence in a disjunction (or link) can be formed in which the individual elements are enumerated. Example: In the sentence " aliquis currit homo " - " Any man running" is "homo " / "man" in a certain supposition. This sentence is in fact equivalent to " Caesar Cicero currit vel vel currit ... " - " Caesar or Cicero runs or runs ... " and so on for all individual instances of "man."
  • Suppositio confusa distributiva - confused - distribuierte Supposition: A term stands for all elements of a population that is of such that the sentence in a conjunction (AND ) can be formed, which explicitly enumerates the individual elements. For example, in the sentence " omnis homo currit " - " Every man is running" is "homo " / "man" in - confused of distributed supposition. The set can be transformed into " Caesar currit et Cicero currit et ... " - " Caesar and Cicero runs and runs ... " and so on for all individual instances of "man."
  • Suppositio confusa tantum - merely confused supposition: A term is an element of a set, the set can also be formed in either a conjunction or in disjunction. Example " Omnis homo est Romanus " - "Everyone is a human being Romans ." The term "homo " / " man " stands in merely confused supposition, because the sentence is not equivalent to " Omnis homo est Caesar Cicero vel vel ... " - " Every person is Caesar or Cicero or ... " or equivalent with " Omnis homo est et Caesar Cicero et ... " - " Every person is Caesar and Cicero and ... ".

After another came the medieval doctrine of supposition as scholastically in the early modern period into disrepute and was forgotten. Presumably, therefore, they can not be mapped directly to a question of modern logic. Instead, there is a whole range of today's topics that are related to the Suppositionstheorie. The Material supposition is reminiscent of today's reflections on the quote, the differentiation between formal and material supposition is thus in a matter forerunner of the distinction between metalanguage and object language or in the English-speaking (language) philosophy and linguistics of "use" and "mention ".

In the simple supposition sounds on a theory of abstract objects. In addition, there is a connection between the personal supposition and the modern theory of quantification. According to the modern view, however, are universality and particularity of quantifiers such as " all " and " some" ( " omnis ", " aliquid " ) is not at the termini ( modern: predicates ) moored.

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