ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the conditions of mediate inference when the middle term is not a singular term but general. In the case of mediate inference with a general middle term, as in the case of mediate inference with a singular middle term, and for the same reasons, when both premises are affirmative the conclusion can only be affirmative. A mediate negative inference can only be drawn when one premise is affirmative and the other negative. It will have been seen that mediate inference when the middle term is singular is simpler in various ways than when the middle term is general, because the whole question of the distribution of terms does not arise, singular terms being distributed in any case. The foregoing general rules are quite sufficient to determine the nature or validity of a mediate inference in relation to given premises.
