240 REASONING. 



All men are mortal, 



Socrates is a man, 

 therefore 



Socrates is mortal, 



the subject and predicate of the major premiss are 

 cormotative terms, denoting objects and connoting 

 attributes. The assertion in the major premiss is, 

 that along with one of the two sets of attributes, we 

 always find the other : that the attributes connoted by 

 '' man" never exist unless conjoined with the attri- 

 bute called mortality. The assertion in the minor 

 premiss is that the individual named Socrates pos- 

 sesses the former attributes ; and it is concluded that 

 he possesses also the attribute mortality. Or if both 

 the premisses are general propositions, as 



All men are mortal, 



All kings are men, 

 therefore 



All kings are mortal, 



the minor premiss asserts that the attributes denoted 

 by kingship only exist in conjunction with those 

 signified by the word man. The major asserts as 

 before, that the last-mentioned attributes are never 

 found without the attribute of mortality. The con- 

 clusion is, that wherever the attributes of kingship are 

 found, that of mortality is found also. 



If the major premiss were negative, as, No men 

 are gods, it would assert, not that the attributes con- 

 noted by "Man" never exist without, but that they 

 never exist with, those connoted by "God:" from 

 which, together with the minor premiss, it is con- 

 cluded, that the same incompatibility exists between 

 the attributes constituting a god and those constituting 

 a king. In a similar manner we might analyze any 

 other example of the syllogism. 



