#22 - Art critic: All of Dolores Albarran’s oil paintings

[gwlsathelp]

I have been looking back at the book for a refresher on formal logic and find nothing on the topic of taking "a few" (a synonym for "some") and diagramming it as "most are not". Is there a blog post somewhere that can further explain this or can someone further elaborate on this concept?

In this case, phrases like "few of her abstract works demonstrate much originality" can better be understood as "Most of her abstract works are NOT original. So instead of using "some" in your diagramming, use "most."

The statements can be diagrammed as follows:

Oil paintings Highly original
Oil paintings Critically acclaimed
Oil paintings Popular with collectors
Highly original Later in career

[Robert Carroll]

gw,

The last paragraph of the following post is helpful: viewtopic.php?p=63492#p63492

In short, "few" and "a few" are quite different. "A few" is roughly synonymous with "some". "Few" alone, though, is more like "not very many."

Compare:

"A few people will get scholarships this year."

vs.

"Few people will get scholarships this year."

In the first example, the speaker is trying to convey that there will be scholarships. The speaker intends to set a minimum number of scholarships (although the exact number is very vague). That first example might be a good response to someone who asks, worried about the financial aid situation, "Will anyone be getting scholarships this year?" The response then affirms that yes, there will be some.

The second example is intended to limit the number of scholarships. Again, it's a vague use of "few" (like other quantity terms are vague, because they can cover so many numbers), but here the intent is to say, roughly, "It won't be a lot of people getting scholarships." It functions well to show that the number of scholarships will be relatively low. The first example has no intention of showing the number to be low. The second example might function as a response to someone who asks, wanting to know how difficult it is to get a scholarship, "Will a lot of students be getting scholarships this year?" The response functions largely to deny that a large number of students will get scholarships.

Robert Carroll

[lawlandmem]

This question because "few" isn't used typically should be covered in the Advanced logical reasoning course, there wasn't a single example of when "few" can transition into "not most" and I think it would be a beneficial addition to the course.