0

Is this an example of Undistributed Middle?

John is not a teenager, since all teenagers are impulsive, and John is not impulsive.

2 Answers 2

4

No, it is not.

It is a valid argument :

The premise :

All teenagers are impulsive

is equivalent to :

for every x, if x is not impulsive, then x is not a teenager.

Thus, using the second premise :

John is not impulsive

we can correctly conclude with :

John is not a teenager.

1
  • Excellent response, Mauro Commented Jan 5, 2019 at 16:42
2

John is not a teenager, since all teenagers are impulsive, and John is not impulsive.

  1. All teenagers are impulsive people.

  2. John is not an impulsive person.

  3. Thus: John is not a teenager.

The form is AEE in the second figure (All P are M; No S are M; thus No S are P). The syllogism is valid.

The middle term (impulsive people) is distributed in the minor premise (2).

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .