Lesson 1:

Introduction to PHILOSOPHY
"Philosophy" (philosophia, from philein, to love, and sophia, wisdom) means "the
love of wisdom"
Introduction to the Five Branches of Philosophy
Metaphysics

Study of Existence

What's out there?

Epistemology Study of Knowledge How do I know about it?

Ethics

Study of Action

What should I do?

Politics

Study of Force

What actions are permissible?

Esthetics

Study of Art

What can life be like?

Difference Between Eastern and Western Philosophy

Eastern philosophy=> Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism
Western Philosophy=> Greek School of Thoughts, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
East (Oriental)
Spherical thinking
Region = Philosophy
Intuition and mysticism
Logic, aesthetics, politics > ethics
Cycle or rebirth
To be one with ABSOLUTE

West
Linear thinking
Religion vs Philosophy
Theory and speculation
5 divisions of Philosophy
Different theories of Universe
Different concept of Absolute

Socratic Philosophy
1. Epistemology
Epistemology is the study of knowledge. Epistemology deals with the process by
which we can know that something is true. It addresses questions such as:
--What can I know?
--How is knowledge acquired?
--Can we be certain of anything?
2. Metaphysics
Metaphysics is the study of reality. More specifically it is the study of reality that
is beyond the scientific or mathematical realms. The term metaphysics itself
literally means beyond the physical. The metaphysical issues most discussed are
the existence of God, the soul, and the afterlife.
3. Ethics
Ethics is the study of moral value, right and wrong. Ethics is involved with placing
value to personal actions, decisions, and relations. Important ethical issues today
include abortion, sexual morality, the death penalty, euthanasia, pornography, and
the environment.
4. Logic
Logic is the study of right reasoning. It is the tool philosophers use to study other
philosophical categories. Good logic includes the use of good thinking skills and the
avoidance of logic fallacies.
5. Aesthetics
Aesthetics is the study of art and beauty. It attempts to address such issues as:
--What is art?
--What is the relationship between beauty and art?
--Are there objective standards by which art can be judged?
--Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Socrates (470-399) was the son of a sculptor and a midwife, and served with
distinction in the Athenian army during Athens clash with Sparta. He married,
but had a tendency to fall in love with handsome young men, in particular a
young soldier named Alcibiades. He was, by all accounts, short and stout, not
given to good grooming, and a lover of wine and conversation.
- His unorthodox religious views (that there was only one god behind the
variety of Greek gods) gave the leading citizens of Athens the excuse they
needed to sentence him to death for corrupting the morals of the youth of the
city. In 399, he was ordered to drink hemlock, which he did in the company of
his students.

MORAL THOUGHT
SOUL > PSYCHE
Not a thing or ghostly substance
capacity for intelligence and character
persons conscious personality
that within us in virtue o f which we are pronounced wise or
foolish, good or bad
MAKING THE SOUL AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE
VIRTUE
Arete = grk, Ares- god of war (Mars roman name)
= machismo/manliness
COURAGE = prime component of virtue
VIRTUE = KNOWLEDGE > GOODNESS
Logic Lesson page1

VICE = IGNORANCE
Ignorance> product of wrongdoing. It is done w/hope that it will do what is cannot
do
Ex. Thieves know stealing is wrong but they steal in hope that it will bring happiness
It is ignorance about ones soul, about what it takes to make t soul as good as
possible

Plato (424-347)
Theory of SOUL
Three parts of the soul
1.. Rational (logos)
> Reason
2. Irascible (thumos)
> courage
3. Appetitive (epithumia) > desire

> head
>the heart
> the abdomen

1. The highest good = happiness

o The Idea of good > God.
o The aim of man's actions should be to free himself from the bonds of
the flesh, from the trammels of the body in which the soul is confined,
and by means of virtue and wisdom to become like to God, even in
this life.
2. Virtue > essential > the order, harmony, and health of the soul,
o all virtue with wisdom highest place among virtues, reducing
o all virtues to four supreme kinds, -- wisdom, fortitude, temperance, and
justice.
3. State that > the most important applications of Plato's doctrine of virtue.
o Man should aim at being virtuous, and could, even in his savage condition,
attain virtue. Without education, however, virtue would be a matter of
mere chance, and without the State education would be impossible. While,
therefore, the State is not the aim and end of human action, it is the
indispensable condition of knowledge and Virtue.

These are not faculties or powers of one substance, but parts (mer) the
distinction of which is proved by the fact that appetite strives against
reason, and anger against reason and appetite

ARISTOTLE (384-327 BC)

Platos great pupil
born at Stagira, in Thrace, in 384 B.C.
His father was a physician to the king of Macedon, so science was in
his background.
At the age of seventeen, he went to Athens and joined Plato's school,
where he stayed until Plato's death in 347
he became the tutor to the young prince of Macedon, Alexander the
Great
the world could be understood at a fundamental level through the
detailed observation and cataloging of phenomenon
knowledge (which is what the word science means) is fundamentally
empirical
the first person to really think out the problem of evidence

Theory of knowledge
Knowledge begins with sense-perception. The senses, however, cannot attain a
knowledge of truth. They contemplate the imperfect copies of the Ideas; as long as
we look upon the objects of sense we are merely gazing at the shadows of things
which, according to the celebrated Allegory of the Cave, are moving where we
cannot see them, namely, in the world of Ideas from which the soul has fallen. (Yet
though the sense perceived world cannot lead us to a knowledge of Ideas, it can
and does remind us of the Ideas which we saw in a previous existence.
Theory of Freedom of the will
o The will is free.
o Not only is freedom of choice a quality of adult human activity, but it is
free choice also that decides our parentage, hereditary tendencies,
physical constitution, and early education, for all these are the result of
actions freely performed during the previous existence of the soul.
o Socratic principle that no one is voluntarily bad.
Theory of Ethics.
o Study of the Idea in human action and human society.
o All Platonic, as well as Socratic, speculation starts with an inquiry about the
good and the beautiful, and proceeds, in the case of Plato, through the
doctrine of concepts to the theory of Ideas.

The Theory of Soul

the perfect expression or realization of a natural body
3 Kinds
1. Nutritive Soul
> Plants
> grow and reproduce
2. Sensitive
> Animals
> sensitive cognition, appetition, local
movement
3. Rational
> Man
> Reason

Soul cannot be a body = but cant be without body

Logic Lesson page2

Reason

source of the first principles of knowledge

realizes something of the essential characteristic of absolute
thought > GOD
The human ability to properly control these desires is called moral
virtue, and is the focus of morality
Aristotle notes that there is a purely rational part of the soul, the
calculative, which is responsible for the human ability to
contemplate, reason logically, and formulate scientific principles.
The mastery of these abilities is called intellectual virtue.

Theory of Freedom of the will

An instrument of free choice
Its the power of everyone to be good or bad, worthy or worthless
Do good, avoid evil
The development of potentiality to actuality is one of the most important
aspects of Aristotle's philosophy.
It was intended to solve the difficulties which earlier thinkers had raised with
reference to the beginnings of existence and the relations of the one and many.
The actual vs. potential state of things is explained in terms of the causes which
act on things.

Final cause is thus internal to the nature of the object itself, and not
something we subjectively impose on it.
God to Aristotle is the first of all substances, the necessary first source of
movement who is himself unmoved. God is a being with everlasting life, and
perfect blessedness, engaged in never-ending contemplation.
Theory of Ethics.
viewed by Aristotle, is an attempt to find out our chief end or highest
good: an end which he maintains is really final.
Though many ends of life are only means to further ends, our aspirations
and desires must have some final object or pursuit. > HAPPINESS
For starters, happiness must be based on human nature, and must begin
from the facts of personal experience.
Thus, happiness
cannot be found in any abstract or ideal notion, like Plato's selfexisting good.
It must be something practical in human.
It must then be found in the work and life which is unique to humans.

There are four causes:

1. Material cause, or the elements out of which an object is created;
2. Efficient cause, or the means by which it is created;
3. Formal cause, or the expression of what it is;
4. Final cause, or the end for which it is.
Example,
bronze statue
material cause > bronze
efficient cause > sculptor > he forces the bronze into shape.
formal cause
> the idea of the completed statue
final cause
> the idea of the statue as it prompts the sculptor to act on the
bronze.
The final cause tends to be the same as the formal cause, and both of
these can be subsumed by the efficient cause.
Of the four, it is the formal and final which is the most important, and
which most truly gives the explanation of an object.
The final end (purpose, or teleology) of a thing is realized in the full
perfection of the object itself, not in our conception of it.

Logic Lesson page3

Lesson 2:
Definition of Logic and its scope

HISTORY OF LOGIC
ARISTOTLE => FATHER OF LOGIC
Organon (6 treaties)

LOGIC

from the Greek (logikos)

the study of the methods and principles used in distinguishing
correct from incorrect reasoning (Copi and Cohen 1994: 2).
the science that investigates the principles governing correct or
reliable inference

Division of Logic
Induction

=> drawing general conclusions from specific examples

conclusion is probable
from a set of specific facts to a general conclusion
Ex: All of your friends are good therefore you can be
good, too.

Deduction
=> drawing logical conclusions from definitions and axioms.
=> conclusion is absolutely necessary
=> we start our reasoning from the general to the particular or less general
=> one absolutely necessary conclusion that follows from the premises for
the argument to be valid
Ex: All men are mortal, Socrates is a man (Therefore,) Socrates is mortal
A similar dichotomy, used by Aristotle, is analysis and synthesis. Here the first takes
an object of study and examines its component parts, the second considers how
parts can be combined to form a whole.
Nature of logic
Informal logic

Formal logic
Symbolic logic

= the study of natural language arguments.

= The study of fallacies is an especially important branch of
informal logic.
= the study of inference with purely formal content.
= the study of symbolic abstractions that capture the formal
features of logical inference.
=
2 Divisions > propositional logic and predicate logic.

Mathematical logic
=an extension of symbolic logic into other areas, in
particular to the study of model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion
theory.

Zeno the Stoic => coined the name LOGIC

Thomas Aquinas => Doctor Angelicus
Aristotelian Logic
5 Ways of Gods Existence
The First Way: Argument from Motion
1. Our senses prove that some things are in motion.
2. Things move when potential motion becomes actual motion.
3. Nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in the same
respect (i.e., if both actual and potential, it is actual in one respect and
potential in another).
4. Therefore nothing can move itself.
5. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no
other; and this everyone understands to be God.
The Second Way: Argument from Efficient Causes
1. Nothing exists prior to itself.
2. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone
gives the name of God.
The Third Way: Argument from Possibility and Necessity (Reductio argument)
1. We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, that come
into being and go out of being i.e., contingent beings.
2. Assume that every being is a dependent being.
3. For each contingent being, there is a time it does not exist.
4. Therefore there could have been a time when no things existed.
5. Therefore some being exists of its own necessity, and does not receive its
existence from another being, but rather causes them. This all men speak
of as God.
The Fourth Way: Argument from Gradation of Being
1. There is a gradation to be found in things: some are better or worse than
others.
2. Predications of degree require reference to the uttermost case (e.g., a
thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which
is hottest).
3. The maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus.
4. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of
their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.
Logic Lesson page4

The Fifth Way: Argument from Design

1. We see that natural bodies work toward some goal, and do not do so by
chance.
2. Most natural things lack knowledge.
3. But as an arrow reaches its target because it is directed by an archer, what
lacks intelligence achieves goals by being directed by something
intelligence.
4. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are
directed to their end; and this being we call God.

LESSON 3 : DIVISIONS OF LOGIC ACCORDING TO 3 ACTS OF THE MIND

Mental Act
Apprehension
Judgment
Reasoning

Modern and Contemporary Period (1850-present)

The 19th and 20th centuries have involved great activity and discovery in logic,
including the rediscovery of the Stoic type of logic or logic of propositions. De
Morgan (1806-1871) discovered the theorems that bear his name and that are
now routinely part of the logic of propositions. George Boole (1815-1864),
considered the founder of symbolic logic, used symbols to depict arguments; he
wrote the Analysis of the Laws of Thought and Mathematical Analysis of Logic,
in which he argues that math is the basis of logic; and his use of numbers to
express the truth values of compound statements (conjunctions, disjunctions, etc.)
directly influenced the development of computers.

PIERRE DE LA RAMEE (1515-1572)

Made a criticism to Aristotelian Logic => ACTS OF THE MIND

External Sign
Terms
Proposition
Syllogism

Logical Issues
Predicability
Predication
Inference

Simple Apprehension:
o the act by which the intellect knows an essence (what a thing is), and
produces a concept;
o is the grasp of a concept.
o A concept is also called an idea, a species, an intelligible form, and a
mental word. A concept has an extension, which is the group of things
included under the concept
o the mind understands the essence or general meaning of a thing
w/out affirming or denying anything about it
Ex: Man, horse, bag, book
If the Statement is this book is for children > Judgment

Judgment:
o the act by which the intellect affirms or denies the truth of something,
putting together or dividing apart concepts;
o is expressed in a complete sentence or proposition.
o Attributive and either true or false.
o Ex. "A is B", where A is a subject and B is a predicate, or existential, as
when we say "A exists".
o Affirmation or affirmative judgment is called composition, because we
are putting two concepts together. Negation is called division, because
we are taking two concepts apart.

Reasoning:
o the act whereby the intellect compares two concepts with one third
concept, and perceives whether the two concepts go together.
o involves three terms or concepts, and two judgments.. The major term
is the most broad, the minor term is the most narrow, and the middle
term is between the two, included in the meaning of the major term,
and including in itself the meaning of the minor term.

Francis Bacon/ John Stuart Mill=> Novum Organum => Scientific Method

Early Modern Period (1600-1850 A.D.):

Leibnitz (1646-1716) is considered a great logician and his work exhibits a
respect for traditional Aristotelean logic but also an interest in general theories of
arrangements, plans for an ideal language, and general science of method. The
German philosopher Kant (1724-1804) made the distinction between types of
statements a key to understanding his philosophy; he distinguished between
analytic statements whose truth can be determined on the basis of the meanings of
the words in the statements, and synthetic statements, which require a direct
appeal to experience. Bolzano (1781-1848) continued to examine the analyticsynthetic distinction in his chief work Wissenschaftslehre.

Mental Product
Concept/Idea
Enunciation
Arguments

Logic Lesson page5

CONCEPT/IDEA

Classifications of Ideas

Theres nothing in the intellect that doesnt pass first through the sense

According to Comprehension
a. Simple expresses only one conceptual features or formal reason
Ex. Objective, existence
Compound expresses several constituent conceptual elements or
integral features
Ex. Man, animal, human being

IDEA

= begins w/sense data > sense organs

= its the building block of knowledge
- its the intellectual representation or IMAGE of a thing
- its the same thing as CONCEPT (BUT CONCEPT S ARE VIEWD AS
PURIFIED IDEAS)

b. One expresses 1 thing, nature, or formal features

Multiple expresses in an explicit manner a thing, nature, or formal
features as a modified by another thing, nature or formal features in an
cessionary manner
Ex. Poor philosopher, tall girl

STEP FOR THE FORMATION OF IDEA

1. All knowledge starts with senses
a. Thus, man is able to produce the sensible image of a thing =>
PHANTASM ( sensible representation of the material features of a
thing)
2. IN the presence of image mans mind begins to think
a. =>SENSE IMAGE a representation of a thing
=> this is by ABSTRACTION

c.

ABSTRACTION => drawing of something from some source

=> act of the mind that draws out from the individual things and
their phantasm the essential nature and other universal reasons
that they embody
The intellect now strips the individuals of their non essentials qualities,
retains the essential attributes only and forms them into one
INTELLECTUAL IMAGE
4. The intellect now makes its own image or representation
Idea
Phantasm
1. exist in the intellect
Exists in the imagination
2. universal
Individual
3. constant
Changeable
4. possible of immaterial and complex
Not possible of immaterial and complex
things
things
PROPERTIES OF IDEA
COMPREHENSION the sum-total of the intelligible elements of the quiddity
(essence of an object ) signified by the term or concept

Concrete expresses a subject that is qualified by a nature or formal

feature
Ex. Student, beautiful dress
Abstract- expresses only a nature, or a formal feature w/out a subject
Ex. Religiosity, tallness, whiteness

d. Absolute expresses a thing, nature, or formal feature, w/out any relation

to some other thing
Ex. Minerals, living beings, modesty

3.

e.

CONCEPT
product of simple apprehension
Concrete the subject of the logic
Abstract - the way the concept is presented

EXTENSION - the sum-total of the individuals and classes or groups to which

an idea can be applied
NOTE: comprehension of an idea always remain the same.
may change continually

Extension of an idea

Relative expresses a thing, nature, or formal feature bearing a relation to

something else
Ex. Husband, motherboard
Complete expresses all the conceptual reasons or formal features that
correspond to the comprehension or to the nature of an object
Ex. Man is a rational animal
Incomplete express only some of the conceptual reasons or formal
features that correspond to the comprehension or to the nature of an
object
Ex. Man is a rational being

Ex.

Man concrete
Honesty - abstract
Logic Lesson page6

4.

THE TERM
TERM

= Terminus = Latin
= the last element to which a proposition may be resolved
= in relation to inference or argument, TERM is a word or arrangement of
words that can serve as the subject or predicate of a proposition which is a
statement of denial or affirmation about something.
EX. A cat is an animal
Cat and animals are TERM
Cat serves as the subject and animal serves as the predicate
1. This means the TERM is the most basic element o fan INFERENCE because
w/out it no Inference can be made
CLASSIFICATION OF TERMS
A. According to Components or Comprehension
1. Simple - it expresses only one conceptual note.
Examples:
Truth - conformity between the intellect and the thing
being - an existential thing
2. Compound- it expresses more than one conceptual note.
Examples:
Man may be expressed as rational animal
human being
3. Concrete - it expresses something which has attributes that are capable of
being perceived through the senses.
Examples:
ball, can, desk, shirty stone table
4. Abstract- it expresses something as separated from any single object. It
denotes the general attributes of many objects.
Examples:
fear, happiness, heights, knowledge, perfection
B. According to Extension
1. Singular -it represents a single object only.
Examples:
United States of America, Bishop TeodoroBacani, this book
2. Universal - it represents not only a class as a whole but also each member
of the class.
.
Examples:
table, chair, stone, plant, glass, pen, girl
3. Particular -it represents only a part of the universal whether it is definite
or indefinite.
Examples: many books, few guests, three kings, several trees

Collective - represents a number of things constituting a unit-group or

whole.
Examples: family, choir, band, fleet, team

C. According to Origin
1. Immediate - (intuitive) it is formed from the direct perception of things.
Examples: chair, cars, chirping of birds, falling rain, hot water, etc.
2.

Mediate - (abstractive) it is formed through the mediation of other ideas.

Examples: God, human soul, philosophy

D. According to Meaning
1. Univocal - a term that carries the same meaning in its several uses.
Examples:
Animal when predicated of "dog" and "cat" has exactly the same meaning.

E.

2.

Equivocal - a term that carries a different meaning in its different .uses.

The term may be equivocal:
a. only in pronunciation
sweet and suite, sun and son, dear and deer
b. in pronunciation and spelling
weak and week, queue and cue, trunk of a tree, of a car

3.

Analogous a term that carries a meaning in some ways different, and in

some ways the same.
.
Examples:
"Good" does not have the same meaning in good cement, good Job, good
medicine, good food.

According lo Qualify
1. Positive inform, positive in meaning
Examples: Life, justice, truth
2. Positive inform, negative in meaning
Examples: death, evil, error, misery, cruelty
3. Negative inform, negative in meaning
Examples: illegal, impolite, incompetent, dishonest
4. Negative in form, positive in meaning
Examples: immortal, infinite, blameless

Logic Lesson page7

6.

Definitions and its Laws

- means the statement w/c explains what a thing is.
- Latin definire to enclose w/in limits
o To put fences around, to mark boundaries or limits
o The act of stating the meaning of a term
o The logical or verbal manifestation of the conceptual features
of an idea
Kinds of Definition
1. Nominal definition nominis or definition of a name
- purpose is to give meaning of a term
Types of Nominal
a. Etymology or word derivation, e.g., definition from the word,
"definire"', martyr from the word "witness,"
b. By description, e.g., defining sugar from its qualities that include
sweetness, granulatedness, etc.
c. By synonym, e.g., an thropos means "man" and to confect
means "to put together."
d. By example of the thing being defined, e.g., sorghum varieties,
rice varieties, etc.
2.

Real Definition - from the word definition rei, "definition of a thing," real
definition does not only indicate what thing is signified by a term but also
declares the very nature of that object or thing.
Sub-types of real definitions
1. Essential (quidditative) definition. - explains the essence or
nature of a thing, e.g., the statement that man is a rational
animal.
2. Descriptive - explains what a thing is in itself by enumerating the
positive, but non-essential, elements of its nature, e.g., when
saying "man is an erect vertebrate."
3. Distinctive - explains a thing by its unique properties, e.g., the
statement that "a chemist defines oxygen as a colorless, odorless,
tasteless gas, 1.105 times as heavy' as air."
4. Genetic - explains a thing by its process of origin or production,
e.g., the statement that "the genetics of certain drug is specifically
prescribed by the Generic Law."
5. Causal - gives the explanation of a thing by means of its efficient
or final cause. Efficient causes are those which produce a things
final causes are the end, the purpose, on account of which a thing
is produced or comes into being. For example, painting is a picture
in colors produced by an artist. (Efficient cause). Or, that "watch"
is a mechanical device which indicates the hours of the day. (Final
cause).

Accidental - gives an explanation of a thing based on

characteristics which are neither essential nor necessarily
connected with the essence of a thing. For example. Prof. David
Libatique, alias macho man; age, 38 years; height, 5 ft. 4 inches;
weight, 61 kilos;

History of Syllogisms
Aristotle (384-322 BC) can be seen as the founder of todays form of logical
reasoning e.g. syllogisms. He was the first in his time to divert with the correctness
and validity of logical reasoning. A lot of his work from those days unfortunately has
gone lost. The few remains however of his work were bundled in books called The
Organon. These books, consisting out of 6 parts, contain a lot of his works and
documents concerning logical reasoning and as a part of that syllogisms. Aristotles
was interested among others in syllogisms, a form of logical reasoning.
A syllogism always consists out of 3 parts;
1. The subject = the word already indicates, the central theme in the
syllogism. This is the keyword of the syllogism.
2. Predicate = connects to the subject.
3. Middle term = which consists out of all the remaining information
in a syllogism.
Solving Syllogisms
Venn diagrams = show all possible and hypothetically logical relations between a
collection of finite and infinite statements
English Mathematician and logician = John Venn
Using 2 or 3 overlapping circles= shows relationship between subject and
predicate.
Syllogism Example:
a. All Canadians are right handed
b. All right handed are opticians
c. Conclusion: Some opticians are Canadian
Subject
Predicate
Middle term

=Optician
=Canadian
=Right handed

Since the two premises (a and b) from the example are valid, the conclusion must
be valid two, since it is not possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion
to be false.
Logic Lesson page8

Syllogism Example 2:
a. All mortals die
b. All men are mortals
c. Conclusion: All men die
To check the validity of this statement first the different terms are appointed.
Subject
=Men
Predicate
=Die
Middle term
=Mortal
Again it can be concluded that the two premises (a and b) are valid and so is the
conclusion. This is in general always the case with syllogisms, which is a form of
logical reasoning of the deductive reasoning type. For more information about
different types of syllogisms, you can take a look at our related pages shown below.
Example 1:
a. All Canadians are right handed
b. All right handed are opticians
c. Conclusion: Some opticians are Canadian
To check the validity of this statement first the different terms are appointed.
Subject:
Canadian
Predicate: Optician
Middle term: Right handed
We will start with the first out of the two given statements from above. The first
thing to do is draw two circles and write the terms Canadian and Right handed in
them.

The

circle

with

the

word

Canadian without the

overlap

represents only Canadian people, while the part within the overlap with the right
handed circle represents all Right handed Canadian people. Everything outside
these two circles represents everything not connected to these two terms. With
this one can think of plants, animals, cars but even you and me.

1st Statement
Next, the 1st statement
claims: all Canadians are right
handed.
Thus
this
means
that all Canadian

people outside the overlap of the two circles are not involved in this statement,
since they are not connected to the term right handed. As a conclusion of that this
part of the circle is being shaded.
2nd Statement
Subsequently the 2nd statement is reviewed.
According to this statement all right handed are opticians. This statement can be
solved by drawing two circles and again shading everything except the overlap in
the right handed circle, just as was done with the first statement.
Linking Statements
Linking the two statements and the circles together results in the Venn Diagram of
figure 2. Here both the first (red) as well as the second (green) statement are
displayed.
The
overlap
between Right handed and
Optician is clearly shown,
even as the absence of one
between
Canadian
and
Opticians. Further it can be
noticed that there is a small
area where all three term are
overlapping, a part which is
still present.
Now that the Venn diagram
is completed, the validity of
the conclusion can be
checked.
The conclusion states:
some Opticians are Canadian. The Venn diagram clearly shows the correctness of
this conclusion. Although the overlap area between both orange and green circle is
shaded, there is still a small area in the middle where all three terms are present
which it not shaded. It is this area that results in the correctness of the conclusion.
This case is characterized as a valid reasoning, since the conclusion can be drawn
directly using the Venn diagram. It is however also possible that additional
information is needed in order to check the validity of the conclusion. In that case
the reasoning is invalid.
Example 2.
a. All hamburgers are meals
b. Some cows are hamburgers
Possible answers:
Logic Lesson page9

1.
2.
3.
4.

All meals are cows

At least some meals are cows
No cows are meals
Some cows are no meal

It is possible to assign a subject, predicate and middle term for all the statements.
However, this would take lot of unnecessary time. Choosing between four
statements when solving syllogisms can be handled best by making a Venn diagram
straight away. In that way the possible answers from the statements can be
checked on their validity piece by piece, resulting in the correct statement.
1st Statement
First statement 2a will be examined. The method behind drawing this part of the
Venn diagram is exactly the same as the one explained in example 1, resulting in
figure 3.

In this way the first part

of the Venn diagram
displays
that
all
hamburgers are meals,
since the part with only
hamburgers is shaded
to result in the overlap
area between the two
terms; hamburgers and meals.
2nd Statement
Next statement 2b is examined. This statement needs a different approach since
the statement claims the following: some cows are hamburgers. This means that it
is not possible to just shade a whole area as was done before.
In order to do that the statement should contain words like all or none. In this
case the statement contains the word some and in that case a cross is used to
represent that part of the
statement in the Venn
Diagram. Therefore a cross
is put in the overlap
between
cows
and
hamburgers,
representing
the
statement that some cows
are hamburgers.

Linking Statements
Linking the two statements and the circles together results in the Venn Diagram of
figure 5. With the help of this Venn diagram the 4 statements can be checked for
their validity.
Checking Statements:
1. All meals are cows.
However it can be seen that the term meals has an overlap with both
hamburgers as well as cows, meaning that both are possible en thus resulting
in an invalid statement.
2. Some meals are cows.
This is correct, since the Venn diagram clearly shows a link between
hamburgers and meals (a) and Cows and hamburgers (b). This automatically
generates a link between meals and cows (be aware of the fact that there is no
link between cows and meals). The Venn diagram clearly shows that this area is
not shaded and thus a possible correct answer.
3. No cows are meals.
It can easily be concluded that this
statement is incorrect, since an overlap
is present between these two terms.
4. Some cows are no meals.
Be aware of the rank of the terms.
It was already suggested that
some cows are
hamburgers, but nothing
is stated between the
relation of cows and
meals. In statement 2
the rank was different so
conclusions could be
made, which in this situation
is not the case.
In this example the correct answer is statement 2. Most syllogisms can be solved by
using the above manner. The trick by solving syllogisms is oftencorrect reading and
interpreting of the statements and conclusions for obtaining a valid reasoning.

Logic Lesson page10

The third and most commonly used type of syllogisms are the categorical
syllogisms. The basic for this syllogism type is: if A is a part of C, then B is a part of C
(A and B are members of C). An example of this syllogism type will clarify the above:
Syllogisms Examples and Types
Syllogisms are todays most commonly accepted form of logical reasoning, however
they are closer related to mathematical reasoning. Within the syllogisms three
different types can be distinguished:
Conditional syllogisms
Conditional syllogisms are better known as hypothetical syllogisms, because the
arguments used here are not always valid. The basic of this syllogism type is: if A is
true then B is true as well. An example will follow to elucidate the former.
Major premise: If Johnny is eating sweets every day, he is placing himself at risk
for diabetes.
Minor premise: Johnny does not eat sweats everyday
Conclusion:
Therefore Johnny is not placing himself at risk for diabetes
This conclusion is invalid because it is possible that Johnny does not eat sweats
every day but does eats cake every day what also puts him at risk for diabetes.

Major premise: All men are mortal.

Minor premise: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion:
Socrates is mortal.
Both premises are known to be valid, by observation or historical facts. Because the
two premises are valid, the conclusion must be valid as well. Be aware that this
conclusion is based on logical reasoning and thus it doesnt have to represent the
truth always.
Next, these categorical syllogisms can be divided into 4 kinds of categorical
propositions which will be explained separately:
Propositions
1.

2.

Disjunctive syllogisms
These syllogism types do not actually state that a certain premise (major or minor)
is correct, but is does states that one of the premises is correct. The basic type for
this syllogism is: Either A or B is true, but they cant be true at the same time.
Example:
Major premise: Either the meeting is at school or at home.
Minor premise: The meeting is not at home.
Conclusion:
Therefore the meeting is at school.
The conclusion of the syllogism type may be given, however most of the times the
conclusion can be drawn based up on own conclusions.
Categorical syllogisms

3.

4.

A: Universal Affirmative
This is a syllogism of the form: All X are Y, like the example: all woman are
shopaholic.
E: Universal Negative
This is the negative form of universal affirmative, which is a syllogism of the
form: No X is Y, or as example: No humans are perfect. This syllogism type is
exactly the opposite of proposition A explained above.
I: Particular Affimitive
Another syllogism type is the particular form which only influences some
people and not the whole population. This syllogism is of the form: Some X are Y.
O: Particular Negative
The opposite of proposition I is proposition O which is of the form: Some X
are not Y. an example of this would be: some cars are not green.

By explaining these 4 kinds of categorical syllogism types each syllogism can be

identified, which is also called stating the mood of an argument. We know
syllogisms always consist out of a major and minor premise and a conclusion. In
standard form, as shown on this page, the major premise is always shown first,
after which the minor premise and the conclusion follow. An example of a mood of
a categorical syllogism could be: AEO. We now know that the major premise is of
type A (all A are B), the minor premise is of type E (No A is B) and the conclusion is
of type O (some S is no P).

Logic Lesson page11

Major premise
Minor premise

1st figure

2nd figure

3rd figure

4th figure

MP
SM

PM
SM

MP
MS

PM
MS

SP

SP

SP

Conclusion
SP
THE CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISM

STRUCTURE OF SYLLOGISM
MAJOR PREMISE
Predicate of the conclusion
+
Middle Term
Minor Premise
Subject of the Conclusion
+
Middle Term
Conclusion
Subject of Minor Premise
+
Predicate of the Major
Premise

Every man is mortal

Mortal = major term

PREDICATE OF THE
CONCLUSION

Philip is a man

Man = middle term

CONNECTOR OF THE
PREMISES

Philip is mortal

Philip = minor term

SUBJECT OF THE
CONCLUSION

10 Rules in Categorical Syllogism

1. Must contain Major, minor and Middle term
2. Middle Term should not be in Conclusion
3. Quantity of Major and Minor Term should not be extended in the conclusion if
they are in PARTICULAR.
4. Quantity of the Middle Term must be universal at least once
5. Conclusion must be affirmative if both premise are AFFIRMATIVE
6. Conclusion must be negative if one premise is NEGATIVE
7. Two premises must not be both negative
8. One premise must be universal
9. Conclusion should be particular if One premise is.
10. The subject term of the premise must be ASSERTED IN THE CONCLUSION
11.

Logic Lesson page12