An Introduction to the Syllogism: and the Logic of Proportional Quantifiers

Syllogisms are the oldest and most carefully studied logical forms. This book attempts to convey some sense of the tradition in which syllogistic logic has developed; but the book also goes well beyond the classical theory. Rather than limiting syllogistic logic to the quantifiers ‘all’ and ‘some’, this book begins with an expanded group of ordinary language quantifiers, including ‘few’, ‘most’, and ‘many’, and ends with a full range of proportional quantifiers, such as ‘23% of’ and ‘more than 98% of’. The book gives a point by point explanation of syllogistic logic, directed primarily at beginners, but offering material that will be new and interesting even to advanced scholars.