Deductive Reasoning

A deductive argument is an argument in which it is consideration that the premises provide a guarantee of the truth of ending. In the argument, the conclusion is depending on the premises. The conclusion of deductive reasoning will be valid when the premises are true. In deductive reasoning we can say that the arguments can be valid or invalid but we can never say that the arguments are true or false.

Rules for deductive reasoning:

• Every deduction should contain three and only three distinct terms.

• In an argument, the middle term must be distributed at least once in the premises

• If one premise in an argument is negative, the conclusion, if any must be negative

• If one premises is particular, the conclusion, if any, should be particular

• If both the premises in the statements are negative, then no conclusion can be drawn

• If both the premises are particular, no conclusion can be derived

• The term which is not distributed in the premises, cannot be distributed in the conclusion.

Example: An example of the deductive argument with a deductive reasoning, Statement:

• All thoughts are actions

• Some actions are not disasters

The conclusion is derived by checking whether it is logically follows the given two statements.