Chapter IV.
THE ANALYSIS OF ARGUMENTS INTO SYLLOGISTIC FORMS.
Turning given arguments into syllogistic form is apt to seem as trivial and useless as it is easy and mechanical. In most cases the necessity of the conclusion is as apparent in the plain speech form as in the artificial logical form. The justification of such exercises is that they give familiarity with the instrument, serving at the same time as simple exercises in ratiocination: what further uses may be made of the instrument once it is mastered, we shall consider as we proceed.
I.—First Figure.
Given the following argument to be put into Syllogistic form: "No war is long popular: for every war increases taxation; and the popularity of anything that touches the pocket is short-lived".
The simplest method is to begin with the conclusion—"No war is long popular"—No S is P—then to examine the argument to see whether it yields premisses of the necessary form. Keeping the form in mind, Celarent of Fig. I.—
No M is P
All S is M
No S is P—