Rules of Syllogism

1. Rules of Syllogism There are five rules that govern the categorical

syllogism: Rule 1: There must be three terms and only three the major term, theminor term, and the middle term. If there are only two terms therelationship between these two cannot be established. And if there were more than three terms this would violate the structure of the categorical syllogism. Animals are living beings. Plants are heavenly bodies. Therefore Stones are minerals. Minerals are stones. Therefore A widower is a man. A man is either male or female. Therefore, a widower is either male or female. Rule 2: Each term must occur twice in the syllogism: the major must occur in the conclusion and in one premise, the minor in the conclusion and in one premise; the middle in both premise but not in the conclusion. There must therefore be a total of three propositions in the syllogism. Rule 3: The middle term must be distributed at least once. If the middle term is particular in both premises it might stand for a different portion of its extension in each occurrence and thus be equivalent to two terms. All sharks are fish. All salmon are fish. Therefore, all salmons are sharks. Many rich men oppress the poor. Jones is a rich man. Therefore, Jones oppresses the poor. Rule 4: The major and minor terms may not be universal in the conclusion unless they are universal in the premises. If a term is distributed in the conclusion then it must be distributed first in the premise. There is an illicit major term if the major term is universal in the conclusion but particular in the premise: All horses are animals.

All dogs are not horses. Therefore, all dogs are not animals. There is an illicit minor term if the minor term is universal in the conclusion but particular in the premise: All tigers are mammals. All mammals are animals. Therefore, all animals are tigers. The rationale behind this rule is that we may not conclude about all the inferiors of a term if the premises have given us information about only some of them. The key to detect a violation of this rule is to examine the conclusion. If there is no term that is distributed in the conclusion then this rule could not have been violated. If one or both terms in the conclusion are distributed there is possibility of the rule having been violated. If a term is distributed both in the premise and the conclusion there is no violation of this rule. Rule 5: If both premises are affirmative, the conclusion must beaffirmative. The reason for this rule is that affirmative premises either unite the minor or major terms, or else do not bring them into relationship with each other at all. All sins are detestable. All pretenses are a sin. Therefore, all pretenses are not detestable. There is a need to be cautious about apparently affirmative or negative propositions: Animals differ from angels. Man is an animal. Therefore, a man is not a horse. Rule 6: If one premise is affirmative and the other negative, the conclusion must be negative. All crows are birds. All wolves are not crows. Therefore, all wolves are birds. Some premises are apparently affirmatives but actually negative and therefore yield a valid conclusion: Dogs are not cats. Greyhounds are dogs. Therefore, greyhounds differ from cats.

Rule 7: If both premises are negative and not equivalently affirmative there can be no conclusion. Reptiles are not mammals. Dogs are not reptiles. Therefore Rule 8: If both premises are particular there can be no conclusion.

how to solve syllogism quickly ? In this section two statements followed by conclusions. The candidate has to find out the valid conclusion from them. For solving the questions of this chapter, the candidate may follow either venn-diagram method or some rules(Systematic approach) method. In the Venn-diagram method the candidate may possible to commit a mistake. So we used here a systematic approach method. In a syllogism one term is common between the two statements. That term is called middle term.

Type 1: Conclusion without middle term. Type 2: Conclusion with middle term. The syllogism is a form of reasoning which consists of three prepositions. i.e two premises and one conclusion. Each preposition is a relation between two terms. ie The Subject and the Predicate. Ex: All roses are red. In this 'roses' is the Subject and 'red' is the Predicate Some boys are tall. In this 'boys' is the Subject and 'tall' is the Predicate No boy is intelligent In this 'boy' is the Subject and 'intelligent' is the Predicate. Prepositions are classified into four types: 1. Universal Affirmative(A) Ex: All men are wise 2.Universal Negative(E) Ex: No Man is wise 3. Particular Affirmative(I) Ex: Some men are wise 4. Particular Negative(O) Ex: Some men are not wise. Distribution Of Terms In The Propositions:

Proposition A E I O

Subject

Predicate Not Distributed Distributed Not Distributed Distributed

Distributed Distributed Not Distributed Not Distributed

In the Exclamation two premises followed by three or four conclusions will be given. We have to find out whether these conclusions are valid or not. The following points will help to check the validity of conclusions. REMEMBER THE POINTS: 1.There should be a common term in the two premises.This is called middle term. The middle term should not come in the conclusion. 2. If both the premises are negative, no conclusioncan can be drawn. 3. If both the premises are particular , no conclusion can be drawn. 4. If one of the premises is particular , the conclusion should be particular. 5. If one of the premises is negative, the conclusion should be negative. 6. If both premises are affirmative, the conclusion should be affirmative. 7. To draw a conclusion the middle term should be distributed in atleast one of the premises. 8. Any distributed term in the conclusion should be distributed in the premises also.

Examples: Ex:1 Statements: All teachers are doctors All Engineers are doctors Conclusions: 1. All teachers are engineers 2. All engineers are teachers 3. Some teachers are engineers 4. None Ans: (4) Here the middle term is doctors which is not distributed in any of the premises. Therefore no conclusion can be drawn Ex 2: Statements: All leaves are fruits All fruits are flowers

Conclusions: 1. All leaves are flowers 2. All flowers are leaves 3. No leaves are flowers 4. None Ans: (1)

Here the middle term is fruits which is distributed in the second premises. So conclusions can be drawn. In conclusion (1) 'Leave' is distributed and the same term is distributed in the first premises also. Therefore (1) is valid. But conclusion (2) is not valid because 'flowers' which is distributed in the conclusion is not distributed in the premises. Conclusion (3) is not possible because it is negative. Ex 3: Statements: All pens are pensils No pens are books

Conclusions: 1. No pencils are books. 2. Some pencils are not books 3. Some pencils are books 4. None Ans: (2) Here the middle term is pens which is distributed. Second premises is negative. So any negative conclusion can be drawn. In the first conclusion 'Pencil' is distributed which is not distributed in the premises. So the conclusion is not valid. But conclusion (2) is valid, because the only distributed term 'book' is also distributed in the premises. Ex 4:

Statements: No woman is a dancer Some women are singers. Conclusions: 1. Some dancers are singers 2. Some dancers are not singers 3. SOme singers are not dancers 4. None. Ans: (3) Here the middle term 'women' is distributed. In this case only 'O' conclusion can be drawn. But conclusion (2) is not valid because the term singer which is distributed in the conclusion is not distributed in the premises.Then conclusion (3) is valid. Ex 5: Statements: No cat is a rat All dogs are cats Conclusions: 1. No rats are dogs 2. All rats are dogs 3. Some rats are dogs 4. None Ans: (1) Here the middle term 'cat' is distributed. In this case any negative conclusion can be drawn. In conclusion (1) both 'rat' and 'dog' are distributed and they are also distributed in the premises. So conclusion (1) is valid.