CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISM

STANDARD-FORM CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISMS

Syllogism
- Arguments that rely on A, E, I, and O propositions commonly have two categorical
propositions as premises and one categorical proposition as a conclusion.
- A deductive argument in which a conclusion is inferred from two premises

Categorical syllogism
- Arguments based on the relations of classes, or categories – relations that are expressed
by categorical propositions with which we are familiar
- A deductive argument consisting of three categorical propositions that together contain
exactly three terms, each of which occurs in exactly two of the constituent propositions
-
Example of a valid standard-form categorical syllogism:
No heroes are cowards.
Some soldiers are cowards.
Therefore some soldiers are not heroes.

Standard form of a categorical syllogism:

a. Its premises and its conclusion are all standard-form categorical propositions
b. Those propositions are arranged in a specified standard order

Terms of the Syllogism: Major, Minor, and Middle

In the example above, there are three terms:
Heroes – Major Term
Soldiers – Minor Term
Cowards – Middle Term

The premises of a syllogism also have names. Each premise is named after the term that
appears in it. The major term and the minor term must each occur in a different premise. The
premise containing the major term is called the major premise. Thus, in the example, No heroes
are cowards – is the major premise. It is the major premise not because it appears first, but only
because it is the premise that contains the major term; it would be the major premise no matter in
what order the premises were written.
 The premise containing the minor term is called the minor premise. In the example, Some
soldiers are cowards – is the minor premise. It is the minor premise because it is the premise that
contains the minor term.

Parts of a Standard-Form Categorical Syllogism

Major Term The predicate term of the conclusion

Minor Term The subject term of the conclusion
Middle Term The term that appears in both premises but not in the conclusion
Major Premise The premise containing the major term
Minor Premise The premise containing the minor term

Mood of Syllogism

The moods of the categorical syllogism consists of the disposition of the premises
according to quality and quantity.

Every syllogism has a mood. The mood of a syllogism is determined by the types (A, E,
I, or O) of standard-form categorical propositions it contains. The mood of the syllogism is
therefore represented by three letters, and those three letters are always given in standard-form
order. That is, the first letter names the type of the syllogism’s major premise; the second letter
names the type of the syllogism’s conclusion. In our example syllogism, the major premise (“No
heroes are cowards”) is an E Proposition; the minor premise (“Some soldiers are cowards”) is an
I proposition; the conclusion (“Some soldiers are not heroes” is an O proposition. Therefore the
mood of this syllogism is EIO.

The Figure of the Syllogism

Figure
- Proper arrangement (position) of the middle term (M) with respect to the major term (P)
and the minor term (S) in the premises
-
Syllogistic Figures

1st Premise M-P P-M M-P P-M

2nd Premise S-M S-M M-S M-S
Figure 1 2 3 4

Figure 1: The middle term is the subject of the major premise and the predicate of the
minor premise

Example:
M-P Some people are difficult to get along with
S-M All Americans are people
S-P Therefore, Some Americans are difficult to get along with

Figure 2: The middle term is the predicate of both premises

Example:
P-M Registered students are members of this class.
S-M John is a member of this class.
S-P Therefore, John is a registered student

Figure 3: The middle term may be the subject of both premises

Example:
M-P Potassium floats on water
M-S Potassium is a metal
S-P Therefore, Some metal floats on water

Figure 4: The middle term may be the predicate of the major premise and the subject of
the minor premise

Example:
P-M Every hound is a dog
M-S Every dog is an animal
S-P Therefore, Some animal is a hound

THE FORMAL NATURE OF SYLLOGISTIC ARGUMENT

Validity and invalidity are completely independent of the specific content of the
argument or its subject matter. Thus any syllogism of the form AAA-1 (All M is P, All S is M,
All S is P) is valid, regardless of its subject matter. The name of this syllogism’s form is
Barbara; no matter what terms are substituted for the letters S, P, and M, the resulting argument
will always be valid.

A valid syllogism is a formally valid argument – valid by virtue of its form alone. This
implies that if a given syllogism is valid, any other syllogism of the same form will also be valid.
And if a syllogism is invalid, any other syllogism of the same form will also be invalid. The
common recognition of this fact is attested to by the frequent use of “logical analogies” in
argumentation

Underlying the method of logical analogy is the fact that the validity or invalidity of such
arguments as the categorical syllogism is a purely formal matter. Any fallacious argument can be
proved to be invalid by finding a second argument that has exactly the same form and is known
to be invalid by the fact that its premises are known to be true while its conclusion is known to
be false.