universal proposition

<logic, philosophy of science> a statement whose propositional quantity is determined by its assertion that all members of one class of things are either included or excluded from membership in some other class. Examples: "All spaniels are dogs" and "No wristwatches are nuclear weapons" are both universal. Although it is often difficult in practice to establish the truth of universal propositions, those that are accepted have extensive deductive consequences.

[A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names]

<2002-05-04>

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Nearby terms: universal generalization « universal instantiation « universalisability « universal proposition » universal quantifier » universal set » universals problem of