Question

Please give an example of a Categorical Syllogism

Please use the Rules method to determine if your Categorical syllogism is valid.

Answer 1

An example of a Categorical Syllogism is as follows:

• All alcoholic beverages cause intoxication. (Major Premise)
• Beer is an alcoholic beverage. (Minor Premise)
• Therefore, beer must cause intoxication. (Conclusion)

We can check the validity of our example using the following rules:

1. Rule-1. A valid categorical syllogism will have three and only three unambiguous categorical terms. Our example has three terms as well, alcohol, beer and intoxication.
2. Rule-2. In a valid categorical syllogism the middle term must be distributed in at least one of the premises. Beer belongs to the class of alcoholic beverages.
3. In a valid categorical syllogism if a term is distributed in the conclusion, it must be distributed in the premises. In our example, intoxication can be found in the first premise and beer in the second.