Abstract:

A generic sentence (GS) is a statement denoting a particular feature of a class of things, which is realized in an ad hoc judgment expressed in the form of an implicit universal sentence about the particular trait of the class of things selected in relation to a certain pragmatic motivation. Counterexamples (C) may occur in a GS, and the C and the GS are in the relation of contradiction, thus arises a challenging question why the C can be tolerated in a GS. The clarification of the issue is of great importance to the understanding and description of the features and properties of things concerned as well as the capturing of their regularity, which points to the cognitive-pragmatic implications of such studies.