Home » Logical Reasoning » Logical Deduction

Syllogism with particular and universal premises: given 'Some pastries are toffees' and 'All toffees are chocolates', determine which conclusion(s) necessarily follow about chocolates, toffees, and pastries

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: Only conclusion I follows

Explanation:


Given data

  • Premise 1: Some pastries are toffees (∃ Pastry ∩ Toffee).
  • Premise 2: All toffees are chocolates (Toffee ⊆ Chocolate).
  • Conclusions: (I) Some chocolates are toffees. (II) Some toffees are not pastries.


Concept/Approach (why this method)

Push the existential statement through the inclusion: if some A are B and all B are C, then those B are C, yielding an existential on C.


Step-by-Step calculation (logical derivation)
1) From Premise 1, pick at least one element x with x ∈ Pastry and x ∈ Toffee.2) From Premise 2, all toffees are chocolates ⇒ x ∈ Chocolate.3) Therefore there exists at least one chocolate that is a toffee ⇒ Conclusion I is true.4) Conclusion II ('Some toffees are not pastries') is not forced; it could be that all toffees are also pastries. Hence II does not follow.


Verification/Alternative

Set diagram: Toffees wholly inside Chocolates; intersection area between Pastries and Toffees non-empty. II requires a non-overlapping part of Toffees outside Pastries, which is not guaranteed.


Common pitfalls

  • Assuming existential negatives without evidence.
  • Confusing 'some A are B' with 'some A are not B'.


Final Answer
Only conclusion I follows.

← Previous Question Next Question→

More Questions from Logical Deduction

Discussion & Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Join Discussion