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Syllogisms: Major, Minor and Middle Term

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A: All artificial satellites are important scientific achievements; therefore some important scientific achievements are not US inventions, inasmuch as some artificial satellites are not US inventions.

B: No stubborn individuals who never admit a mistake are good teachers, so, because some well-informed people are stubborn individuals who never admit a mistake, some good teachers are not well-informed people.

C: No intellectuals are successful politicians, because no shy and retiring people are successful politicians, and some intellectuals are shy and retiring people.

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Solution Summary

The solution provides discussion and insight into the 3 logic statements above (syllogisms), providing guidance in identifying the major, minor or middle term as well as their figure and mood. The text also includes a list of resources that can used in further studying the topic.

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Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for using Brainmass. The problem you listed, while straightforward in asking you what to do provide categorical syllogisms that do not follow the usual major term, middle term, minor term then conclusion pattern. Syllogisms are logical appeals where a proposition is inferred from 2 other propositions - the premises. Before we answer your question, let us review the minor, major and middle terms. The minor term is the subject of the conclusion and the major term is the predicate of the conclusion. The middle term is 'floating' or appearing in the premises. Take for example the following syllogism (Philosophy pages, 2011):

"No geese are ...

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Xenia Rochelle Jones, MA, PhD (IP)
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  • MA, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • Certificate, Geva Ulpan (via Universita Tel Aviv)
  • BA, University of the Philippines
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