ABSTRACT

This chapter is concerned with the traditional doctrine. It defines the syllogism as follows: "A categorical syllogism is a form of reasoning consisting of three propositions having between them three and only three terms, which are so related that the first two propositions jointly imply the third". The chapter determines to what extent the traditional treatment of the syllogism has been symbolic. It finds that the increasing generality in the treatment of logic, characteristic of modern times, is the development of the treatment begun by Aristotle. The purpose of the Aristotelian treatment of logic is to reduce the multiform expressions of ordinary reflective thinking into one standard form of expression for the sole purpose of testing their validity. This emphasis upon form constitutes the value of the theory of the syllogism. The chapter concludes by describing the syllogism with the reflection that, absurd as are some of the traditional technicalities, yet the traditional syllogism is one important form of reasoning.