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Categorical Syllogisms

Categorical Syllogisms are deductive arguments with two premises and a conclusion. They have three terms: the major term is the predicate of the conclusion, the minor term is the subject of the conclusion, and the middle term appears in both premises but not the conclusion. The mood indicates the forms of the premises and conclusion, while the figure specifies the position of the middle term. There are four figures and 256 possible forms depending on the mood and figure. A syllogism's validity is determined solely by its form, not its specific subject matter or whether the premises are true.

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440 views11 pages

Categorical Syllogisms

Categorical Syllogisms are deductive arguments with two premises and a conclusion. They have three terms: the major term is the predicate of the conclusion, the minor term is the subject of the conclusion, and the middle term appears in both premises but not the conclusion. The mood indicates the forms of the premises and conclusion, while the figure specifies the position of the middle term. There are four figures and 256 possible forms depending on the mood and figure. A syllogism's validity is determined solely by its form, not its specific subject matter or whether the premises are true.

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ashish0
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Categorical Syllogisms

What is a Categorical Syllogism? A categorical syllogism is a deductive argument in which a conclusion is inferred from two premisses. Standard from of a Categorical Syllogism: It is in the form of categorical proposition which has three terms: Predicate of the conclusion is called the Major term Subject term of the conclusion is called Minor term The third term which does not occur in the conclusion but occurs in both the premisses is called the Middle term

For example: No Heroes are Cowards. Some Soldiers are cowards. Therefore, some Soldiers are not Heroes. In this example, Soldiers is a minor term, heroes is the major term and Cowards is the middle term. The premiss containing the major term is called the major premiss and the premiss containing the minor term is called the minor premiss. The major premiss is stated first followed by the minor premiss.

Mood of a standard form Categorical syllogism:


The mood is determined by the form of the standard categorical proposition it contains. It is represented by three letters, the first of which names the standard form of the major premiss followed by the name of the standard form of minor premiss and then that of the conclusion. In the earlier example, the mood of the syllogism can be traced as EIO. But syllogism with same mood may differ in form depending upon the relative position of the middle terms. For Example: Both the two syllogisms have same mood AII here:

1.) All great scientists are college students. Some professional athletes are college students. Therefore some professional athletes are college students.
2.) All artists are egotists. Some artists are paupers. Therefore some paupers are egotists.

Both the syllogisms have same mood, AII but they have different logical forms:

1.) All P is M. Some S is M. Therefore Some S is P. 2.) All M is P. Some M is S. Therefore Some S is P. In 1) the middle term is the predicate of both premises whereas in 2) the middle term is the subject term of both the premises.

Figure of a Categorical Syllogism: The figure indicates the position of the middle term in the premises. There are four possible figures of a categorical syllogism: 1.) First Figure: The middle term may be the subject term of the major premiss and the predicate term of the minor premiss: M-P S-M Therefore S-P

2.) Second Figure: The middle term may be the predicate term of both the premises: P-M S-M Therefore S-P 3.) Third Figure: The middle term may be the subject term of both the premises: M-P M-S Therefore S-P

4.) Fourth Figure: The middle term may be the predicate term of the major premiss and the subject term of the minor premiss: P-M M-S Therefore S-P
Depending upon the mood and figure of the categorical syllogism there can be 256 distinct forms of such syllogisms.

Formal Nature of Syllogistic Argument: A syllogistic argument is formal in nature from the point of view of logic i.e. the validity or invalidity of a syllogism depends exclusively on its form and is completely independent of its specific content or subject matter. This implies that if a given syllogism is valid, any other syllogism of the same form will also be valid and vice-versa (irrespective of the truth or falsity of the premisses).

Some Rules & Fallacies:


1. A valid standard form categorical syllogism must contain exactly three terms, each of which is used in the same sense throughout the argument. 2. In a valid categorical syllogism, the middle term must be distributed in at least one premiss. 3. If either term is distributed in the conclusion then it must be distributed in the presmisses. 4. No standard form categorical syllogism having two negative premisses is valid. 5. If either premiss of a valid standard form categorical syllogism is negative, the conclusion must be negative. 6. No valid standard form categorical syllogism with a particular conclusion can have two universal premisses.

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