Supposition theory¶

A family of medieval logical theories classifying how terms stand for things in propositions.

Version: v1 · 2026-09-08 · History
Domain-specific #: 7011
Origin domain: medieval logic
Subdomain: medieval logic

Core Idea¶

Signification and supposition are distinct, and personal, simple, material, discrete, confused and distributive modes vary across authors and centuries. A term’s conventional meaning combines with propositional context, tense, modality and quantification to determine what objects it supposits for and how reference distributes. The abstraction is therefore identified by a declared carrier, a transformation or constraint over that carrier, and an invariant that tells an analyst whether the named structure is genuinely present.

The load-bearing residual is not the broad topic of medieval logic. It is the domain-specific identity fixed by the author and text, period, proposition and term, signification, supposition kind, ampliation or restriction, mode classification, inferential role and differences from modern reference are explicit.

Scope of Application¶

Supposition theory belongs to medieval logic and is useful where the analyst can specify the typed medieval logic carrier, including its objects, relations, parameters, conventions, evidence, and comparison cases, then evaluate the author and text, period, proposition and term, signification, supposition kind, ampliation or restriction, mode classification, inferential role and differences from modern reference are explicit. The scope is broad within that domain but bounded by the need for the author and text, period, proposition and term, signification, supposition kind, ampliation or restriction, mode classification, inferential role and differences from modern reference are explicit. The entry records a descriptive analytical identity; practical use requires the governing domain's evidence, standards, and safety obligations.

Clarity¶

The abstraction clarifies a crowded vocabulary by making the author and text, period, proposition and term, signification, supposition kind, ampliation or restriction, mode classification, inferential role and differences from modern reference are explicit the center of the account. A claim should name the carrier, the governing operation or relation, the applicable assumptions, and the recognition test. A bare label is insufficient because the name Supposition theory can be used for a formal identity, an implementation, or a neighboring result unless carrier and convention are stated.

Manages Complexity¶

Without the abstraction, an analyst must reason directly over many local details: the carrier roles, admissibility assumptions, competing conventions, derived invariants, boundary cases, and proof or validation obligations specific to Supposition theory. Supposition theory compresses them into the roles in the structural signature. That compression permits comparison across instances without erasing the variables that determine validity. It also exposes which details may be varied safely and which are constitutive.

Abstract Reasoning¶

Identify the carrier. State what the elements, states, objects, or observations are: the typed medieval logic carrier, including its objects, relations, parameters, conventions, evidence, and comparison cases. Reject examples whose alleged carrier belongs to a different problem. 2. Lock the constitutive rule. Express the author and text, period, proposition and term, signification, supposition kind, ampliation or restriction, mode classification, inferential role and differences from modern reference are explicit independently of one notation or implementation.

Knowledge Transfer¶

Knowledge transfers strongly among subfields of medieval logic because they reuse the typed medieval logic carrier, including its objects, relations, parameters, conventions, evidence, and comparison cases, A term’s conventional meaning combines with propositional context, tense, modality and quantification to determine what objects it supposits for and how reference distributes., and type the carrier, state every parameter and convention in the definition, test that the author and text, period, proposition and term, signification, supposition kind, ampliation or restriction, mode classification, inferential role and differences from modern reference are explicit, compare the nearest accepted identity, and report counterexamples, uncertainty, and limiting cases.

Relationships to Other Abstractions¶

Current abstraction Supposition theory Domain-specific

Parents (1) — more general patterns this builds on

Supposition theory is a kind of Referent Prime

The proposed strict upward parent is prime:referent.

Hierarchy paths (3) — routes to 3 parentless roots

Supposition theory → Referent → Indirection → Layering

Show alternative paths (2)

Neighborhood in Abstraction Space¶

Supposition theory sits in a crowded region of the domain-specific corpus (30^th percentile for distinctiveness): several abstractions share nearly its structure, so a description that fits it tends to fit its neighbors too.

Family — Truth, Semantics & Logical Systems (18 abstractions)

Nearest neighbors

Computed from structural-signature embeddings · 2026-09-08