Method
Syllogistic Analysis
Classification
- Method family
- Formal
- Domains
- Logic
Overview
Syllogistic analysis represents an inference through categorical premises and a conclusion so that its validity can be tested by figure and form.
Purpose. The method separates the question of whether a conclusion follows from the question of whether its premises are true. It is narrower than formalization in general and does not treat every argument as a categorical syllogism.
Characteristic operations
- Identify the terms: Distinguish the major, minor, and middle terms in the inference.
- Standardize the propositions: Express the premises and conclusion in categorical form.
- Determine figure and mood: Record the position of the middle term and the quantity and quality of each proposition.
- Test validity: Decide whether the form makes the conclusion follow necessarily from the premises.
Used by traditions
Applied to questions
References
- Aristotle, Prior Analytics I.1–7 (definition and figures of the syllogism)
- Aristotle, Prior Analytics I.4–6 (tests which combinations of categorical premises, arranged by figure, yield a necessary conclusion and which do not)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Aristotle's Logic, §§5.1–5.4 (figures, counterexamples, and valid premise forms later called moods)