A Class Room Logic / Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of Teaching

by George Hastings McNair

2. HYPOTHETICAL ARGUMENTS.

We have observed that a hypothetical proposition is one in which the assertion depends on a condition; for example, in the proposition, “If it is pleasant, I will call on you to-morrow,” the calling depends on the state of the weather. “I will call on you to-morrow,” is the assertion which is limited by the condition, “If the weather is pleasant.” Definition:

The hypothetical argument or syllogism is one in which the major premise is hypothetical and the minor premise categorical.

ILLUSTRATION:

If the people are right more than half of the time, the world will progress;

And the people are right more than half of the time,

Hence the world will progress.

In contradistinction to disjunctives, hypothetical propositions and hypothetical syllogisms are frequently referred to as “conjunctive.”