Law of Syllogism
The law of syllogism takes two conditional statements and forms a conclusion by combining the hypothesis of one statement with the conclusion of another. Here is the general form, with the true premise P:
- P→Q
- Q→R
- Therefore, P→R.
The following is an example:
- If Larry is sick, then he will be absent from school.
- If Larry is absent, then he will miss his classwork.
- If Larry is sick, then he will miss his classwork.
We deduced the final statement by combining the hypothesis of the first statement with the conclusion of the second statement. We also conclude that this could be a false statement.
Read more about this topic: Deductive Reasoning
Famous quotes containing the word law:
“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest. What force has a multitude? They can only force me who obey a higher law than I.... I do not hear of men being forced to live this way or that by masses of men. What sort of life were that to live?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)