Categorical Syllogisms
What is a syllogism? A syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning that consists of 3 parts called premises.
Syllogism Structure
1. Major Premise
2. Minor Premise
3. Conclusion
A premise is a proposition upon which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn. In this method of reasoning the conclusion follows from the stated premises and this type of reasoning is aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood. Below follows an example
Syllogism Example
1. All tourists are travellers.
2. Some wanderers are tourists.
3. Conclusion is: Some wanderers are travellers
The conclusion in this example is true. Each of the three distinct terms represents a category, in this example, “tourists,” “travellers,” and “wanderers.” In this syllogism “travellers” is the major term and “wanderers,” the minor term. The premises have also one term in common with each other, called the middle term — in this example, “tourists.” Here the major premise is universal and the minor particular, but this need not be so.
Syllogism Example
Major premise : All mortals die.
Minor premise : All men are mortals.
Conclusion : All men die.
In this syllogism both of the premises are universal. The major term is “Die” and the minor term is “men”. The middle term in this example is “mortals”.
For more information about different types of syllogisms, you can take a look at our related pages shown below.
Related Pages
