Formal Logic: Some, others, and the rest

[otanriverdi]

Hello:

1) If we have a sentence:
Some like tennis, some like football, and others like basketball.
From the above sentence, can we infer that If one likes neither tennis nor football, then s/he likes basketball?

2) Similar to #1 above, (rest instead of others) if we have a sentence:
Some like tennis, some like football, and rest like basketball.
Can we infer that If one likes neither tennis nor football, then s/he likes basketball?

Thank you,

OT

[Dave Killoran]

Hi OT,

In the case of #1, no, you could not infer that. "Others" is simply a synonym for "some" in this sentence, so there could be people who like none of those three sports. To get to the idea you are referring to--which depends on inclusion of all people--they'd need to phrase the relationship in different terms.

The situation in #2 would result in the inference you state. "The rest" implies that all remaining people at the least like basketball, so if someone didn't like the tennis or football, they'd have to like basketball. The key then is the nature of how the word "rest" is used to referencing all remaining people, which occurs in a way that "others" does not match.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[otanriverdi]

Yes, definitely helps! Thank you!