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NAMES AND PROPOSITIONS. 



That which we affirm to be past, 

 present, or future, is not what the 

 subject signifies, nor what the predi- 

 cate signifies, but specifically and ex- 

 pressly what the predication signifies ; 

 what is expressed only by the proposi- 

 tion as such, and not by either or 

 both of the terms. Therefore the 

 circumstance of time is properly con- 

 sidered as attaching to the copula, 

 which is the sign of predication, and 

 not to the predicate. If the same 

 cannot be said of such modifications 

 as these, Caesar may be dead ; Caesar 

 is perhaps dead ; it is possible that 

 Caesar is dead ; it is only because 

 these fall altogether under another 

 head, being properly assertions not of 

 anything relating to the fact itself, 

 but of the state of our own mind in 

 regard to it ; namely, our absence of 

 disbelief of it. Thus " Caesar may 

 be dead " means '* I am not sure that 

 Caesar is alive." 



§ 3. The next division of proposi- 

 tions is into Simple and Complex ; 

 more aptly (by Professor Bain *) 

 termed Compound. A simple pro- 

 position is that in which one predicate 

 is affirmed or denied of one subject. 

 A compound proposition is that in 

 which there is more than one predicate, 

 or more than one subject, or both. 



At first sight this division has the 

 air of an absurdity ; a solemn distinc- 

 tion of things into one and more than 

 one ; as if we were to divide horses 

 into single horses and teams of horses. 

 And it is true that what is called a 

 complex (or compound) proposition is 

 often not a proposition at all, but 

 several propositions, held together by 

 a conjunction. Such, for example, is 

 this : Caesar is dead, and Brutus is 

 alive : or even this, Caesar is dead, 

 hut Brutus is alive. There are here 

 two distinct assertions ; and we might 

 as well call a street a complex house, 

 as these two propositions a complex 

 proposition. It is true that the syn- 

 categorematic words arid and hut have 



* Logic, i. 8s. 



a meaning ; but that meaning is so 

 far from making the two propositions 

 one, that it adds a third proposition 

 to them. All particles are abbrevia- 

 tions, and generally abbreviations of 

 propositions ; a kind of shorthand, 

 whereby something which, to be ex- 

 pressed fully, would have required a 

 proposition or a series of propositions, 

 is suggested to the mind at once. 

 Thus the words, Cassar is dead and 

 Brutus is alive, are equivalent to 

 these : Caesar is dead ; Brutus is 

 alive ; it is desired that the two pre- 

 ceding propositions should be thought 

 of together. If the words were, 

 Caesar is dead, hut Brutus is alive, the 

 sense would be equivalent to the same 

 three propositions together with a 

 fourth ; " between the two preceding 

 propositions there exists a contrast : " 

 viz. either between the two facts them« 

 selves, or between the feelings with 

 which it is desired that they should be 

 regarded. 



In the instances cited the two pro* 

 positions are kept visibly distinct, each 

 subject having its separate predicate, 

 and each predicate its separate sub- 

 ject. For brevity, however, and to 

 avoid repetition, the propositions are 

 often blended together : as in this, 

 " Peter and James preached at Jeru- 

 salem and in Galilee," which contains 

 four propositions : Peter preached at 

 Jerusalem, Peter preached in Galilee, 

 James preached at Jerusalem, James 

 preached in Galilee. 



We have seen that when the two or 

 more propositions comprised in what 

 is called a complex proposition are 

 stated absolutely and not under any 

 condition or proviso, it is not a pro- 

 position at all, but a plurality of pro- 

 positions ; since what it expresses is 

 not a single assertion, but several 

 assertions, which, if true when joined, 

 are true also when separated. But 

 there is a kind of proposition which, 

 though it contains a plurality of sub- 

 jects and of predicates, and may be 

 said in one sense of the word to con- 

 sist of several propositions, contains 

 but one assertion ; and its truth does 



