Encyclopedia > Syllogism

  Article Content

Syllogism

In logic, a syllogism is a valid, three-step argument of the form:

[Statement A].
[Statement B].
Therefore, [Statement C].

Forms of syllogism:

The Aristotle wrote the classic "Barbara" syllogism:

If all humans (B's) are mortal (A),
and all Greeks (C's) are humans (B's),
then all Greeks (C's) are mortal (A).

That is,

Men die.
Socrates is a man.
Socrates will die.

Metaphor, in contrast, resembles a form of syllogism called “Affirming the Consequent”:

Grass dies.
Men die.
Men are grass.

A Barbara syllogism involves Grammar and Logical Types; it has a subject and a predicate. Affirming the Consequent, the basis of metaphor, is grammatically symmetrical: it equates two predicates. This form of syllogism is logically invalid.

this is a stub article

Epagoge are weak syllogisms that rely on inductive reasoning.

See also:



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Autocracy

...     Contents Autocracy Autocracy is a form of government which resides in the absolute power of a single individual. The term can b ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 74 ms