Ch. 5 - Categorical Syllogisms

Syllogism

A deductive argument consisting of two premises and once conclusion. See also Categorical syllogism; Disjunctive syllogism; Hypothetical syllogism; Pure hypothetical syllogism.

Major term

In a standard-form categorical syllogism, the predicate of the conclusion.

Minor term

In a standard-form categorical syllogism, the subject of the conclusion.

Middle term

In a standard-form categorical syllogism, the term that occurs only in the premises.

Major premise

In a categorical syllogism, the premise that contains the major term.

Minor premise

In a categorical syllogism, the premise that contains the minor term.

Standard-form categorical syllogism

A categorical syllogism in which all three statements are standard-form categorical propositions, the two occurrences of each term are identical, each term is used in the same sense throughout the argument, and the major premise is listed first, the minor premise second, and the conclusion last.

Mood

An attribute of a categorical syllogism that specifies the kind of statements (A, E, I, O) that make it up.

Standard-form sorites

A sorites in which each of the component propositions is in standard form, each term occurs twice, the predicate of the conclusion is in the first premise, and each successive premise has a term in common with the preceding one.