Syllogism

Definition

• Syllogism is originally a word given by the

Greeks. Which means?‘Inference’or
‘deduction’( conclusion or inference means a
conclusion reached on the basis of evidence
and reasoning.)
• Syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning
where you arrive at a specific conclusion by
examining two other premises or ideas.
 What is syllogism

• “A syllogism is a kind of logical argument that

applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a
conclusion based on two or more propositions
that are asserted or assumed to be true.”

Wikipedia contributors. "Syllogism." Wikipedia, The Free

Encyclopedia. 7 Jun. 2015. Web. 14 Jun. 2015.
•  There will be 'statements' and 'conclusions‘
• The challenge is to check whether the given
conclusions are valid to the given statements.
• A syllogism is a three-part logical argument, based
on deductive reasoning, in which two premises are
combined to arrive at a conclusion. So long as the
premises of the syllogism are true and the syllogism
is correctly structured, the conclusion will be true. 
 Some Important Terms

• The terms defined below are used in the well defined method for solving the

problems on syllogism.

• A syllogism is a three-part logical argument, based on deductive reasoning, in which

two premises are combined to arrive at a conclusion. So long as the premises of the

syllogism are true and the syllogism is correctly structured, the conclusion will be

true. An example of a syllogism is "All mammals are animals. All elephants are

mammals. Therefore, all elephants are animals." In a syllogism, the more general

premise is called the major premise ("All mammals are animals"). The more

specific premise is called the minor premise ("All elephants are mammals"). The

conclusion joins the logic of the two premises ("Therefore, all elephants are

animals").
 syllogisms contain three components:

• Major Premise

• Minor Premise

• Conclusion

• Syllogisms consist of three things: major & minor (the

premises) and a conclusion, which follows logically from the
major and the minor and is derived from the given statements.
• A major is a general principle.

• A minor is a specific statement.

• Logically, the conclusion follows from applying the
major to the minor.
• For example, all roses are flowers (major premise). This
is a rose (minor premise). Therefore, I am holding a
flower (conclusion).
• Example 1

• If all humans are smart (A), major

• And all Indians are humans (B’s), (minor)

• Then all Indians are smart (A) conclusion

• A syllogism is a deductive argument that has exactly two premises and a
conclusion.

• A categorical syllogism is constructed entirely out of categorical

propositions. It contains three different terms, each of which is used two
times.

• The major term is the predicate of the conclusion of a categorical

syllogism.

• The minor term is the subject of the conclusion of a categorical

syllogism.

• The middle term is the term that occurs only in the premises of a
categorical syllogism.
• Following the structure and naming convention of categorical terms, the major
premise is the first premise of a categorical syllogism. The major premise
contains the major term. The minor premise the second premise of a categorical
syllogism contains the minor term.

• In order to be a standard-form categorical syllogism, three requirements must

be met:

• 1) All three statements must be standard-form categorical propositions.

• 2) The two occurrences of each term must be identical and have the same sense.

• 3) The major premise must occur first, the minor premise second, and the
conclusion last.
•The mood of a categorical syllogism consists of the type of categorical propositions

involved (A, E, I, or O) and the order in which they occur. The middle term can be

arranged in the two premises in four different ways. These placements determine the

figure of the categorical syllogism.

•There are six rules for standard-form categorical syllogisms:

•1) The middle term must be distributed in at least one premise.

•2) If a term is distributed in the conclusion, then it must be distributed in a premise.

•3) A categorical syllogism cannot have two negative premises.

•4) A negative premise must have a negative conclusion.

•5) A negative conclusion must have a negative premise.

•6) Two universal premises cannot have a particular conclusion.

 Rules to construct syllogism in four figures

• There are only three terms in a syllogism (by

definition)
• The middle term is not in the conclusion (by
definition)
• The quantity of a term cannot be greater in the
conclusion. Nothing can be added in order to derive
a logical conclusion.
• The middle term must be universally quantified in at
least one premise-you cannot deduct anything from
particular observations
• At least one premise must be affirmative.
• If one premise is negative, the conclusion is negative
• If both premises are affirmative, the conclusion is
affirmative
• At least one premise must be universal
• If one premise is particular, the conclusion is particular
 The Structure of a Syllogism

• In a syllogism, the major premise is broad and wide, like

saying, "All triangles have three sides and three interior
angles." The major premise is often a conditional
statement, beginning with "If."
• The minor premise scales down that premise to something
local, exact, or familiar: "This is a three-sided polygon." It
can also be a conditional statement beginning with "If."
• The conclusion connects the universal truth of the major
premise to the immediate example of the minor premise:
"Then this three-sided polygon is a triangle."
Conclusions often begin with "Then."
• The law of syllogism is also known as reasoning by
transitivity. It is similar to the transitive property of
equality, which says if this what sit is like that doohickey,
and that doohickey is like this thingamabob, then
this what sit is like this thingamabob:
• If a = b

• and if b = c

• then a = c

• Taking the same example from earlier and recasting the premises as

conditional statements, we could write:

• If all triangles have three sides and three interior angles,

• And if this is a three-sided polygon,

• Then this three-sided polygon is a triangle.

• The law of syllogism provides for two conditional statements ("If …")

followed by a conclusion ("Then …"). Logicians usually assign letters to these

parts of the syllogism:

• Statements 1 and 2 are called the premises of

the argument. If they are true, then statement

3 must be a valid conclusion

 Six Rules to test Validity

• The last method is to memorise six rules using the

information presented thus far.
• Categorical syllogisms must contain exactly three terms,
no more no less (avoid Fallacy of four terms), beware of
synonyms and antonyms because they can create the
illusion of invalidity, but can sometimes be rectified by
substituting the interchangeable terms for one choice
• If either premise is negative then the conclusion must be
negative (Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise)
• Both promises cannot be negative
• Any term distributed in the conclusion must be distributed
in either premise
• The middle term must be distributed once and only once.
• You cannot draw a particular conclusion with two
universal premises.
 Types of syllogism

• There are three major types of syllogism:

• Conditional Syllogism: If A is true then B is true
(If A then B).
• Categorical Syllogism: If A is in C then B is in C.

• Disjunctive Syllogism: If A is true, then B is false

(A or B).
 Categorical Syllogisms

• Syllogisms make claims about groups of things, or categories. They use

statements that refer to the quantity of members of a category (all, some,

or none]) and denote membership or lack there of members of one

category in another category. These are examples of categorical

statements:

• No vegetarians are pork-chop lovers.

• Some meat eaters are not pork-chop lovers.

• Some mosquitoes are disease carriers.

• All mice are rodents.

• Syllogisms are broadly characterized as arguments with two
premises supporting the conclusion. Each premise shares a
common term with the conclusion, and the premises share a
common term (the middle term) with each other.
• This well-known categorical syllogism refers to a specific
member of the class of “men”:
• Premise 1: All men are mortal.
Premise 2: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
 Disjunctive Syllogisms

• This type of syllogism has a “disjunction” as a

premise, that is, an “either-or” statement. Here’s
an example:
• Premise 1: Either my pet is a dog, or my pet is
a cat.
Premise 2: My pet is not a cat.
Conclusion: Therefore, my pet is a dog.
 Hypothetical Syllogisms

• A hypothetical statement is an “if-then” statement. Hypothetical

statements have two components:

• The “if” portion is referred to as the antecedent. It is the

precipitating factor.

• The “then” portion is called the consequent. It is the resulting

condition.

• A pure hypothetical syllogism has two hypothetical premises.

Here’s an example:
• Premise 1: If it rains on Sunday, then the concert will be

canceled.

Premise 2: If the concert is canceled, then the band will go

to the movies.

Conclusion: Thus, If it rains on Sunday, the band will go to

the movies.

• The next two common argument forms use a hypothetical

statement as one of the premises.

 FALLACIES
• Introduction

• The purpose of Logic is to give us valid principles of thinking. Thinking must

be done correctly if we are to get conclusions. This is done when thought

conforms to the laws of systematic reasoning. The function of logic is only to

give us the rules of standards for right thinking. Not only should we know

positively what is right, we should also know negatively what is wrong. Such

wrong inferences are known as fallacies. A fallacy may be defined as a

conclusion resulting from thought which claims to be valid but which violates

the principles of reasoning. As we have already seen, thinking always proceeds

in two ways.
• We have general, universal judgements from which we
argue about the truth of a particular. We include the
particular statement under the universal. This type off
reasoning we have called deduction. We deduce the truth of
the particular from the given universal. The other way of
thinking is known as Induction where are arrive at a
universal truth as a result of such observation. Both these
form of thinking are governed by laws. When these laws are
violated, we have fallacies. We shall examine the fallacies
of deductive reasoning first.
 Conclusion

• We have come to the close of our study of the fundamentals of logic. The

nature of thought, the principle that govern its processes, the mistakes in

reasoning that we most commonly make when we stray away from the path

of truth-these and other related topics have been discussed. Thinking is

what each one of us is intimately concerned with. Even without our

knowledge we employ logical principles in our daily conversation and

arguments. The science of logic appears difficult and strange at first. But

when once its principles are understood, we realize that we have been using

them, however imperfectly, in our commonest thoughts and expression.

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