PHL 3000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Syllogism, Middle Term, Pac-Man
Module 9
Venn Diagrams for Arguments
Categorical Syllogisms
• A syllogism is any argument that has two premises and one conclusion. A categorical
syllogism is any syllogism that is comprised of categorical statements. Example:
o All M are P
o Some M are not S
o Therefore no S are P
Major, Minor, and Middle Terms
• Major term = the predicate of the conclusion
• Minor term = the subject of the conclusion
• Middle term = term in both premises but not in the conclusion
• Example:
o All M are P
o Some M are not S
o Therefore no S are P
▪ Major term = P
▪ Minor term = S
▪ Middle term = M
Major and Minor Premise
• Major premise = premise with the major term in it
• Minor premise = premise with the minor term in it
• Example:
o All M are P
o Some M are not S
o Therefore no S are P
▪ Major premise = 1
• Contains P which is the major term
▪ Minor premise = 2
• Contains S which is the minor term
Standard Form Categorical Syllogisms
• A standard form categorical syllogism is a categorical syllogism that meets the following
requirements:
o All three statements in the syllogism are standard form categorical statements
o The two occurrences of each term in the syllogism are identical
o Each term is used in the same sense throughout
o Major premise is first, minor premise is second, and the conclusion is last
Venn Diagrams for Categorical Syllogisms
• Three circles, one for each term.
o 7 areas
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