Opposition and Implication in Aristotelian Diagrams

In logical geometry, Aristotelian diagrams are studied in a systematic fashion. Recent developments in this field have shown that the square of opposition generalizes in two ways, which correspond precisely to the theory of opposition (leading to <inline-formula><math display="inline&q...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Alexander De Klerck
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Axioms
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/5/370
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Summary:In logical geometry, Aristotelian diagrams are studied in a systematic fashion. Recent developments in this field have shown that the square of opposition generalizes in two ways, which correspond precisely to the theory of opposition (leading to <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mi>α</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>-structures) and the theory of implication (leading to ladders) it exhibits. These two kinds of Aristotelian diagrams are dual to each other, in the sense that they are the oppositional and implicative counterpart of the same construction. This paper formalizes this duality as <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>O</mi><mi>I</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>-companionship, explores its properties, and applies it to various <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mi>σ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>-diagrams. This investigation shows that <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>O</mi><mi>I</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>-companionship has some interesting, but unusual behaviors. While it is symmetric, and works well on the level of Aristotelian families, it lacks (ir)reflexivity, transitivity, functionality, and seriality. However, we show that all important Aristotelian families from the literature do have a unique <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>O</mi><mi>I</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>-companion. These findings explore the limits that arise when extending the duality between opposition and implication beyond the limits of <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mi>α</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>-structures and ladders.
ISSN:2075-1680