predication

predication

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logic
      in logic, the attributing of characteristics to a subject to produce a meaningful statement combining verbal and nominal elements. Thus, a characteristic such as “warm” (conventionally symbolized by a capital letter W) may be predicated of some singular subject, for example, a dish—symbolized by a small letter d, often called the “argument.” The resulting statement is “This dish is warm”; i.e., Wd. Using ∼ to symbolize “not,” the denial ∼Wd can also be predicated. If that of which “warm” is predicated is indefinite, a blank may be left for the predicate, W—, or the variable x may be employed, Wx, thus producing the propositional function “x is warm” instead of a definite proposition. By quantifying the function by (∀x), meaning “For every x . . . ,” or by (∃x), meaning “There is an x such that . . . ,” it is transformed into a proposition again, either general or particular instead of singular, which predicates warmness (or its negation) of several or many subjects of a kind. The predication is identical if it characterizes every referent (x); it is disparate if it fails to characterize some or all of the referents. The predication is formal if the subject necessarily entails (or excludes) the predicate; it is material if the entailment is contingent.

      Philosophers have long debated what predicates really are. In the early Middle Ages, they were usually treated as having a being beyond all linguistic and mental entities and thus were viewed as metaphysical. Garland the Computist, the author of an early system of logic, however, viewed predication as mere utterance (vox). Peter Abelard (Abelard, Peter), the foremost dialectician of the 12th century, amended this view to include significatio as well as vox.

      Logicians have long distinguished the existential statement “x is” from the predicational statement “x is Y.” Franz Brentano (Brentano, Franz), a precursor of Phenomenology prior to World War I, argued that they are both existential, that “x is Y ” means “xY is”; e.g., “Some fish have four eyes” means “Four-eyed fish exist.” An exactly opposite approach was taken by Alexander Bain (Bain, Alexander), a Scottish philosopher and psychologist, who held that all existential statements have complex subjects from which a predicate can be extracted.

      The limitations of predication as a logical form are increasingly evident. The predicate logic is now seen to be but one species of the logic of terms—the others being the logic of classes, the logic of relations, and the logic of identity; and the entire logic of terms, in turn, is distinct from the propositional logic, which deals with whole or unanalyzed statements. In the logic of relations, it is even questionable whether there is any predicate at all, since all of the terms can be regarded as subjects on the same footing (as in “Jane is the sister of Edith is the sister of Rachel”). Moreover, logics that distribute the predicate (with the quantifiers “all,” “some,” etc.) have also been explored.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Predication — Prédication Pour les articles homonymes, voir prédication (linguistique). Christianisme Religions abrahamiques (arbre) Judaïsme · Christianisme · Islam Courants …   Wikipédia en Français

  • predication — Predication. s. f. Sermon, discours pour expliquer les veritez chrestiennes, pour exciter à la pratique de la vertu. Cet homme a un merveilleux talent pour la predication. aller à la predication. assister à la predication. oüir, entendre la… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Predication — Pred i*ca tion, n. [L. praedicatio: cf. F. pr[ e]dication.] 1. The act of predicating, or of affirming one thing of another; affirmation; assertion. Locke. [1913 Webster] 2. Preaching. [Obs. or Scot.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • predication — index affirmance (authentication), affirmation, assertion, claim (assertion), pronouncement Burton s Legal Thesaurus …   Law dictionary

  • predication — (n.) early 14c., from O.Fr. predicacion and directly from L. praedicationem (nom. praedicatio, from praedicatum (see PREDICATE (Cf. predicate)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • predication — Predication, Concio. Predications qui n ont point de vigueur, Conciones intermortuae …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • prédication — 1. prédication [ predikasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1119; lat. ecclés. prædicatio, de prædicare « prêcher » 1 ♦ Action de prêcher. La prédication des apôtres. La prédication de l Évangile. Toute propagande par le discours. « Il faut méditer sur la prodigieuse …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Prédication — Pour les articles homonymes, voir prédication (linguistique). La prédication est l action de répandre la parole divine. Le mot provient du latin prædicere (en français : « dire devant ») : action de prêcher, autre nom de l… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • prédication — (pré di ka sion ; en vers, de six syllabes) s. f. 1°   Action de prêcher (au sens actif). •   Le prédicateur qui parle au dehors ne fait qu un seul sermon pour tout un grand peuple ; mais le prédicateur du dedans, je veux dire le Saint Esprit,… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • PRÉDICATION — s. f. Action de prêcher. La prédication de l Évangile est la plus noble fonction de l épiscopat. Cet homme a un grand talent pour la prédication. S appliquer, s attacher à la prédication.   Il signifie aussi, Sermon, discours pour annoncer la… …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 7eme edition (1835)

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