INFERENCE and SYLLOGISM

INFERENCE
KINDS OF INFERENCE
Immediate two premises
Mediate two or more premises

Making Inferences
(Drawing Valid Conclusions)

 Supposing that you suspect that a friend

is afflicted with dengue: you need to pay
attention to the signs and symptoms of
dengue. This will require you to collect
more data to decide if your suspicion is
correct. Once you have enough evidence
to support your inference, you know that
you are probably correct. Critical
thinking, however, will demand that you
consider alternate conclusions that you
can reasonably infer.

 When making an inference you must often

choose between possible explanations.

Examples:
A student says she can't anymore
afford to enroll next semester.
it indicates that the student has no money
to pay for the tuition.

Your female friend is throwing up for the past days

and she always gets sleepy
It indicates that your female friend is
pregnant
A housemaid keeps on asking what time the
master of the house would be coming back.
It indicates that the housemaid has intention
of doing something malicious like taking
something not hers while the master is away.

SYLLOGISM
Categorical syllogism
is an inferential thinking that draws the
conclusion in an absolute manner

Hypothetical syllogism
Is an inferential thinking, which concludes
with certainty, affirming or denying a
statement, from the affirmation or denial of
another.

The Nature Of Categorical

Syllogism

 Matter
proposition in the reasoning process

Form
links the premises to the conclusion

A syllogism is considered valid when its possible

to have a false conclusion if the premises are
true. False premises can have either a true or
false conclusion. If a true conclusion is drawn
from false premises, its truth is not due to the
false premises but is merely accidental to such
inferential consequence. Thus, if a conclusion is
true. It does not necessarily follow that its
premises are true

 Examples:
Money makes man live comfortably;
But, mans goal is to make money;
Mans goal is to live comfortably.
A square is a geometrical figure;
But a circle is also a geometrical figure;
Therefore circles are also squares.

The Constituents
of Categorical Syllogism

 The categorical syllogism is composed

of three terms: major term (P) which
is the predicate term of the conclusion
and is contained in the major premise,
minor term (S) which is the subject
term of the conclusion and is
contained in the minor premise, and
middle term (M) which is common
to, and found in, both premises. Major
term and the minor term are also
extremes.

All animals are substances;

But, a dog is an animal;
A dog is a substance;
The first proposition "All animals are
substances" is the Major Premise. The
secon proposition "A dog is an animal"
is the Minor Premise. "A dog is a
substance" is the Conclusion. The major
term is "substance" which is found in
the major premise and is the predicate of
the conclusion. The minor term is "dog"
which is found in the minor premise and is
the subject of the conclusion.

"Animal" is the middle term that is found

in both premises. This is the arrangement
of the terms and the order of the
propositions.
Other example:
All beagles are mammals
All dogs are beagles
All dogs are mammals