Given that all women are mortal, and suppose that A is a woman, what can we conclude about A?

Question

Homi · Accepted Answer

Understand the Question

We are given two logical statements:
- Major premise (general rule): All women are mortal.
- Minor premise (specific fact): A is a woman.
In deductive reasoning, if a general rule applies to an entire group and an individual belongs to that group, the rule must also apply to that individual.
Therefore, we can deduce a definite conclusion about A.

Step 1 · Identify the Given Premises

We are given two premises:

Step 2 · Deduce the Conclusion

Since A belongs to the group of women, and all women are mortal, it logically follows that:

$\text{A is mortal}$

Answer

A is mortal.

Common Mistakes

Assuming the Converse: Incorrectly assuming that being mortal means someone is necessarily a woman. Deductive logic works from the whole group to the subset, not in reverse.
Inductive vs. Deductive Confusion: Treating the deduction as an uncertain guess or generalization rather than a logically guaranteed fact based on the given premises.

Question 1