'Aks — flipping a proposition: 'Aks means flipping a proposition — swapping its subject and predicate — to see what still follows. The rules, as given in the summary slide (38), are: [E] flips directly to [E] — "No S is P" becomes "No P is S".
[I] and [A] — how they flip: [I] flips directly to [I] — "Some S is P" becomes "Some P is S". [A] flips to [I] or by contraposition — "All S is P" becomes "Some P is S".
[O] cannot be flipped: [O] cannot be converted by a simple flip — there is no simple conversion for [O]. The summary also mentions 'Aks al-Naqid (contraposition) as the second kind of conversion.
Why conversion matters: Conversion matters because arguments often need a proposition in the opposite order, and a careless flip breaks the argument.
Example
The classic beginner's error: "No human is a god" [E] flips safely to "No god is a human" [E]. But "All humans are mortal" [A] does NOT flip to "All mortals are humans" — that is the classic beginner's error.
Only to [I]: It flips only to "Some mortals are humans" [I].
Key Terms
- 'Aks (العکس) — conversion
- 'Aks Mustawi (العکس المستوي) — simple conversion
- 'Aks al-Naqid (عکس النقیض) — contraposition
Quran or Hadith
None known from the slide title.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A small table: each form [A] [E] [I] [O] with its flip result (or "no simple conversion" for [O]). To be drawn in Project Desk colours.
Note: Slide 37 was not read; rules are from the Session 6 summary (Slide 38). Verify against the slide before publication.
- 'Aks means flipping a proposition — swapping its subject and predicate — to see what still follows.
- "No human is a god" [E] flips safely to "No god is a human" [E]. But "All humans are mortal" [A] does NOT flip to "All mortals are humans" — that is the classic beginner's error.