Division of the Categorical Proposition and Ḥillī’s Fivefold Innovation

Ebadi, Ahmad; Karimi, Somayeh

doi:10.30465/lsj.2026.52830.1504

Division of the Categorical Proposition and Ḥillī’s Fivefold Innovation

Document Type : Research

Authors

Ahmad Ebadi ¹

Somayeh Karimi ²

¹ Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Isfahan

² PhD student in Philosophy and Islamic Theology at Najafabad University, with a Master’s degree from the University of Isfahan, and a Level 3 graduate of Mojtahedeh Amin Seminary.

https://doi.org/10.30465/lsj.2026.52830.1504

Abstract

Ḥillī, with mastery of logic and uṣūl and with a comparative and critical perspective toward earlier logicians, undertook an important reconsideration of the classification of the categorical proposition. He expanded the traditional fourfold structure of propositions (singular, generic, indefinite, and definite) into a more comprehensive fivefold system by distinguishing between the generic and the general proposition. Ḥillī’s innovation, through a precise redefinition of the distinction between the generic proposition (where the subject is considered in terms of its abstract quiddity) and the general proposition (where the subject is considered in terms of applying universality to individuals), opened the way for applications in uṣūl, logic, and jurisprudence. This innovation, however, was overlooked due to the dominance of the logical school of Khūnajī and his followers, but it was later revived in the works of subsequent uṣūlīs in the form of the conceptual distinction between the actual proposition (ḥaqīqī) and the external proposition (khārijī). Adopting a historical approach, this article analyzes the dimensions of Ḥillī’s innovation in revising the classification of categorical propositions, and after explaining the reasons for the neglect of his scheme and the lack of reception among logicians, it advances the hypothesis that Ḥillī’s innovation was particularly appreciated among later uṣūlīs due to its methodological and jurisprudential applications.

Keywords

categorical proposition

classification of propositions

generic proposition

general proposition

Ḥillī

Subjects

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