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The conclusion is the final statement, the one below the line. The other two statements are the premises The statements refer to three terms, namely Canadians, North Americans, and tall (i.e., tall people). Of these three, one (namely North Americans) appears in both premises and not in the conclusion. That is the middle term. Of the remaining two terms, the term tall is in the predicate of the conclusion. The term which is in the predicate of the conclusion is known as the major term and the premise containing it is the major premise. The term Canadians is in the subject of the conclusion; such a term is known as the minor term and the premise in which it appears is the minor premise. It is customary to write the major premise on top, followed by the minor premise; I'll follow this in the vast majority of cases but, perhaps, not always. In the given example, the major premise is a syllogism of type I, the minor premise is of type A, the conclusion is of type I; we say it is an IAI syllogism, or that the mood of the syllogism is IAI.
Notions discussed so far: Syllogism, major term, major premise, minor term, minor premise, conclusion, mood of a syllogism. Do you understand what they all mean? More examples will follow.
3 The classification
Since the middle ages, syllogisms have been classified by dividing them into four groups or figures, depending on the position of the terms in the major and minor premise. Consider the following syllogisms. 1. All children are cute. All brats are children. All brats are cute. 2. All professors are clowns. Some wise people are professors. Some wise people are clowns.
3. Some Americans are rich. Some poor people are Americans. Some poor people are rich. 4. No Americans are French. All New Yorkers are American. No New Yorkers are French. 5. No politician is dishonest. Some liars are politicians. Some liars are not dishonest. 6. All cows are green. Some dogs are cows. No green object is a dog.
All of these syllogisms have something in common. Ignoring qualifiers such as all, some, not, no, the scheme for all these syllogisms is: M-P S-M S-P which is known as the first figure. For example, in the first syllogism, the term appearing in both premises (and not in the conclusion) is children. That means that children is the middle term; M = children. Looking at the conclusion, we see that S = brats and P = cute. The syllogism can be abbreviated to All M are P All S are M All S are P Now get rid of the qualifier all, replace the verb by -, and you are left with the first figure scheme given a few lines above.
Exercise. For each one of the six syllogisms: 1. 2. 3. 4. Identify the terms; i.e., identify M, P, and S. Verify that it does indeed belong to the first figure. Determine its mood. The only (classically) valid first figure syllogisms are those of moods AAA, EAE, AII, and EIO. (known, respectively, as Barbara, Celarent, Darii, and Ferio). With this information, determine the validity of the syllogism at hand. Enough about the first figure! Here are the schemes for all four figures. M-P S-M S-P 1st P-M S-M S-P 2nd M-P M-S S-P 3rd P-M M-S S-P 4th
First Figure
Exercise Classify each of the following syllogisms by figure and mood, and decide whether it is valid or not (according to the table of valid moods). 1. Some evergreens are objects of adoration. All evergreens are trees. Some trees are objects of adoration. 3. Some impractical people are intellectuals. All poets are impractical. Some intellectuals are poets. 5. All students are bright. No bright person is a litterer. No litterer is a student. 7. No bright person is a student. All litterers are bright. No litterer is a student. 9. All well paid people are educated. All teachers are educated. All teachers are well paid. 11. Some snakes are not venomous. All snakes are reptiles. Some reptiles are not venomous.
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13. No fish is a mammal. Some mammals are aquatic. Some (aquatic) animals are not fish. 15. No man is an island. All islands are rocky. No man is Rocky. 17. All horses are equines. All equines are vertebrates. Some vertebrates are horses. 19. All dogs are mammals. No cat is a dog. No cat is a mammal. 21. All ants are insects. Some ants have wings. Some winged animals are insects. 23. Some birds of prey are eagles. All eagles have excellent eye-sight. Some animals with excellent eyesight are birds of prey.
25. All textbooks are worthy of careful study. No textbook is a work of Shakespeare. No work of Shakespeare is worthy of careful study. 27. All Toyotas are cars. Some cars are not made by General Motors. Some Toyotas are not made by General Motors. 29. No motorcycle is a car. Some Hondas are cars. Some Hondas are not motorcycles. 31. Every honest person is worthy of trust. No liar is worthy of trust. No liar is an honest person. 33. All Athenians were philosophers. All Athenians were Greek. Some Greeks were philosophers. 35. All of John's statements are true. Some statements I heard yesterday were not true. Some statements I heard yesterday were not made by John.
37. No litterer is a bright person. All students are bright. No student is a litterer. 39. No reptile is a mammal. Some reptiles are carnivorous. Some carnivorous animals are not mammals.
6 Venn Diagrams
In these diagrams, the class corresponding to each term is represented as a circle. In an improvement (maybe) our textbook represents the minor term (S) as a circle, the major term (P) as a square, the middle term as a triangle. A statement All S are M can then be represented by a circle inside of a square. But we would start usually with the major premise, which tells you how to draw the square (P) and the triangle (M). The minor premise tells you how to place the circle (S). To decide now if the syllogism is valid, look at the picture, ignoring the triangle. Is the picture consistent with the conclusion of the syllogism? You have some pictures for Barbara, Celarent and Darii in your text.
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SOLUTIONS TO THE EXERCISES OF THE FACTS ABOUT SYLLOGISMS NOTES Exercise. For each one of following six syllogisms: 1. 2. 3. 4. Identify the terms; i.e., identify M, P, and S. Verify that it does indeed belong to the first figure. Determine its mode. The only (classically) valid first figure syllogisms are those of modes AAA, EAE, AII, and EIO. (known, respectively, as Barbara, Celarent, Darii, and Ferio). With this information, determine the validity of the syllogism at hand. 1. All children are cute. All brats are children. All brats are cute. 2. All professors are clowns. Some wise people are professors. Some wise people are clowns. 3. Some Americans are rich. Some poor people are Americans. Some poor people are rich. 4. No Americans are French. All New Yorkers are American. No New Yorkers are French. 5. No politician is dishonest. Some liars are politicians. Some liars are not dishonest.
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6. All cows are green. Some dogs are cows. No green object is a dog.
The order of the terms is M-P S-M S-P so it is first figure AAA. Valid (Barbara). 2. M = professors P = clowns S = people The order of the terms is M-P S-M S-P so it is first figure AII. Valid (Darii). 3. M = Americans P = rich S = poor people The order of the terms is
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M-P S-M S-P so it is first figure III. Invalid (Not in the list). 4. M = Americans P = French S = New Yorkers The order of the terms is M-P S-M S-P so it is first figure EAE. Valid (Celarent). 5. M = politician(s) P = dishonest S = liars The order of the terms is M-P S-M S-P so it is first figure EIO. Valid (Ferio). 6. M= cows P = dog(s) S = green (objects) The order of the terms is M-P S-M
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Exercise Classify each of the following syllogisms by figure and mode, and decide whether it is valid or not (according to the table of valid modes). 1. Some evergreens are objects of adoration. All evergreens are trees. Some trees are objects of adoration. 3. Some impractical people are intellectuals. All poets are impractical. Some intellectuals are poets. 5. All students are bright. No bright person is a litterer. No litterer is a student. 7. No bright person is a student. All litterers are bright. No litterer is a student. 9. All well paid people are educated. All teachers are educated. All teachers are well paid. 11.
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Some snakes are not venomous. All snakes are reptiles. Some reptiles are not venomous. 13. No fish is a mammal. Some mammals are aquatic. Some (aquatic) animals are not fish. 15. No man is an island. All islands are rocky. No man is Rocky. 17. All horses are equines. All equines are vertebrates. Some vertebrates are horses. 19. All dogs are mammals. No cat is a dog. No cat is a mammal. 21. All ants are insects. Some ants have wings. Some winged animals are insects. 23. Some birds of prey are eagles.
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All eagles have excellent eye-sight. Some animals with excellent eyesight are birds of prey. 25. All textbooks are worthy of careful study. No textbook is a work of Shakespeare. No work of Shakespeare is worthy of careful study. 27. All Toyotas are cars. Some cars are not made by General Motors. Some Toyotas are not made by General Motors. 29. No motorcycle is a car. Some Hondas are cars. Some Hondas are not motorcycles. 31. Every honest person is worthy of trust. No liar is worthy of trust. No liar is an honest person. 33. All Athenians were philosophers. All Athenians were Greek. Some Greeks were philosophers. 35. All of John's statements are true. Some statements I heard yesterday were not true.
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Some statements I heard yesterday were not made by John. 37. No litterer is a bright person. All students are bright. No student is a litterer. 39. No reptile is a mammal. Some reptiles are carnivorous. Some carnivorous animals are not mammals. Answers. 1. The form is Some M are P. All M are S. Some S are P. 2. It is third figure IAI. Valid (Disamis). 3. Here we must notice that the first premise is actually the minor premise, since poets is the major term. The form is Some M are S. All P are M. Some S are P. 4. or, better (switching the order of the premises) All P are M. Some M are S. Some S are P. 5. We recognize it as fourth figure AII. Invalid. 6. The form is
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All P are M. No M is S. No S is P. 7. Fourth figure AEE. Valid (Camenes). 8. The form is No M is P. All S are M. No S is P. 9. First figure EAE. Valid (Celarent). 10. The form is All P are M. All S are M. All S are P. 11. Second figure, AAA. Invalid. 12. The form is Some M are not P. All M are S. Some S are not P. 13. Third figure, OAO. Valid (Bocardo) 14. The form is No P is M. Some M are S. Some S are not P. 15. Fourth figure, EIO. Valid (Fresison). 16. We'll call this one a somewhat nonsensical reasoning; the meaning of island being different in the two premises. 17. The form is All P are M. All M are S.
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Some S are P. 18. Fourth figure, AAI. Valid with reservations (Bramantip). It is valid because there exist horses, the set of horses is not empty. If we apply the syllogism with a major term describing nothing, it becomes invalid reasoning. 19. The form is All M are P. No S is a M. No S is P. 20. First figure, AEE. Invalid. 21. The form is All M are P. Some M are S. Some S are P. 22. Third figure, AII. Valid (Datisi). 23. The form is Some P are M. All M are S Some S are P. 24. Second figure, IAI. Invalid. 25. The form is All M are P. No M is S No S is P. 26. Third figure, AEE. Invalid. 27. The form is All S are M. Some M are not P. Some S are not P.
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28. Notice that the first premise is the minor premise, so the syllogism is first figure OAO. Invalid. 29. The form is No P is M. Some S are M. Some S are not P. 30. Second figure, EIO. Valid (Festino). 31. The form is Every P is M. No S is M. No S is P. 32. Second figure, AEE. Valid (Camestres). 33. The form is All M were P. All M were S. Some S were P. 34. Third figure, AAI. Valid with reservations (Darapti). 35. The form is All P are M. Some S were not M. Some S were not P 36. Second figure, AOO. Valid (Baroco). 37. The form is No P is M. All S are M. No S is P. 38. Second figure, EAE. Valid (Cesare). 39. The form is
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No M is P. Some M are S. Some S are not P. 40. Third figure, EIO. Valid (Ferison).
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