contradictory of the original subject; thus
"all A is B" becomes "some not-A is not B."

Considerable discussion has centred on the problem as to whether the
process of conversion can properly be regarded as inference. The essence
of inference is that the conclusion should embody knowledge which is not
in the premise or premises, and many logicians have contended that no
fact is stated in the converse which was not in the convertend, or, in
other words, that conversion is merely a transformation or verbal change
of the same statement. Hence the term Eductions and Equivalent
Propositional Forms have been given to converse propositions. It is
clear, for instance, that if the universal affirmative is taken
connotatively as a scientific law, and not historically, no real
inference is achieved by stating as another scientific fact its
converse, the particular affirmative. Moreover, even if the convertend
is stated as an historic fact, though there is acquired a certain new
significance, it may well be argued that the inference is not immediate
but syllogistic.

For this controversy see J. S. Mill, _Logic_, II. i. 2; Bradley,
_Logic_, III. pt. i. chap. ii. 30-37; H. W. B. Joseph, _Introduction
to Logic_ (1906), pp. 209 foll.; J. N. Keynes, _Formal Logic_ (3rd
ed., 1894).

2. _In theology_, conversion (the equivalent of the Gr. [Greek:
strephein, epistrephein]) is originally the acceptation of Christianity
by heathens. It is also used generally for a change from one religion to
another, or in a narrower sense for a complete change of attitude
towards God, involving a deeper conviction of the ultimate religious and
moral truths. Considerable difference of opinion has always existed, and
still exists, within the Christian Church as to the true nature and the
causes of conversion, especially in the sense last described. Some have
held that man is merely the passive recipient of the Divine Grace, a
view based largely on the rendering of the Authorized Version of Isaiah
vi. 10 as quoted in Matt. xiii. 15, Mark iv. 12, and John xii. 40.
Others again hold that baptism, as involving a second birth of the
baptized person, makes subsequent conversion unnecessary or even
meaningless, or conversely that conversion is this very second birth and
renders baptism unnecessary. The reply generally made to such arguments
is that baptism implies regeneration only, which is a change wrought
from the outside by the Divine Spirit in gene