Minor Premiss (Noun)
Meaning
The premise of a syllogism that contains the minor term (which is the subject of the conclusion).
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The argument relies on the minor premiss that all cats are mammals to arrive at the conclusion that this particular animal is a mammal.
- In this syllogism, the minor premiss is "some politicians are dishonest" which leads to the conclusion that "John, who is a politician, is dishonest".
- The minor premiss "all cars are vehicles" is used to infer that "my car is a vehicle" in this logical argument.
- The conclusion that "Socrates is mortal" is derived from the minor premiss "all men are mortal" and the major premiss "Socrates is a man".
- The argument's validity hinges on the minor premiss "all students are enrolled in a school" to deduce that "John, who is a student, is enrolled in a school".