Syllogisms
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a syllogism is "a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion" (p. 1230). Syllogisms are used to guide thinking from the general to the specific. They can, however, contain faulty logic and overgeneralizations.
Byrnes (1988) suggests that preservice students analyze syllogisms for faulty reasoning. Listed below are some examples:
Tomatoes taste salty.
Tomatoes are red.
All red foods taste salty.
Bobby stole a bicycle.
Bobby is poor.
All poor people are thieves.
Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, and Richard Speck were mass murderers.
Dahmer, Gacy, and Speck were white men.
All white men are mass murderers.
By analyzing the faulty logic in such syllogisms, preservice students may learn to become aware of their own faulty thinking and prejudices in regard to people from diverse cultures and groups.
