David Miller wrote:
>>Simple, John. ...
>>Major premise: John is comfortable keeping his sin
>>Minor premise: The phrase "keeping his sin" is equivalent
>>to the phrase "in sin"
>>Conclusion: John is comfortable in sin
John wrote:
>Try this again. This not a syllogism, David.
>There is only one conclusion in a syllogism.
>Your minor premise is a conclusion.
>This is false logic.
John, please go take a class in logic or brush up by reading many of the web
pages out there that will help you understand deductive logic. There are
many different types of logical syllogisms and you seem to have trouble with
even the most common of them. The form this one takes is classic. It is
known in mathematics as the principle of transtivity. Look it up. It
states that if two different things are equal to the same thing, then those
two different things must also be equal to each other. Following is the
mathematical representation of the syllogism that I constructed above:
A equals B
B equals C
Therefore, A equals C
Substitute A with "John is comfortable" and B with "keeping his sin" and C
with "in sin." Now do your substitution and what do you get?
John is comfortable keeping his sin.
"Keeping his sin" is equivalent to saying "in sin."
Therefore, John is comfortable in sin.
It is a shame that your hostility in this forum toward Judy has hinged upon
your deficiency in logic and reason. We would be glad to help you
understand how to apply reason better, but it would be helpful if you ask
for help rather than blasting us with ex-cathedra declarations and dogma
that have no basis in logic. The way to show the conclusion in this
syllogism to be false is to show one of the premises to be false. If the
premises are true, then the conclusion must be true. This is why I did not
hammer on the misrepresentation issue until Gary said, "so what," indicating
his acceptance of the minor premise as being true.
David Miller.
There are so many things wrong with this essay that I hardly know where to begin. I actually took a course on logic and debate in college. Really. Maybe my instructor was screwed up. But I don't think so. There is only ONE correct syllogism, David, and something like 13 or 17 (I forget) ways of writing a syllogism poorly. You have a major and minor premise and a conclusion. The major premise is the larger of the two considerations and is a fact without debate. The minor prmise is more specific and is related to the major premise. The CONCLUSION is forced upon the author or student as the two premises are combined and presents no new information to the reader. The CONCLUSION is the comgining of the major and minor premise -- period. There is so much more regarding the major and minor premise -- but I have to dig up my notes. They are somewhere in this "study" of mine. Let's consider your "syllogism:"
John is comfortable keeping his sin.
"Keeping his sin" is equivalent to saying "in sin."
Therefore, John is comfortable in sin.
Both the major and minor premise are unture. The first is a lie. The second is a conclusion not related to the major premise. The notion that I am comfortable in the keeping of my sin (a lie) is not related to the conclusion "keeping " is equivalent to "saying."
Try it again, David.
