Immediate inference with an exclusion premise: ‘‘Raman is always successful’’ and ‘‘No fool is always successful’’ — decide which conclusion about Raman logically follows.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: Only conclusion II follows

Explanation:

Map the universal negative to Raman.

  • Premise 1: Raman is always successful.
  • Premise 2: No fool is always successful.
  • Conclusions: I. Raman is a fool. II. Raman is not a fool.
Concept/ApproachPremise 2 states that membership in the class Fools excludes being always successful. Since Raman is always successful, Raman cannot be a member of that class.DerivationFrom Premise 2: Fool ⟶ Not always successful. Contrapositive style reading with Raman being always successful gives: Raman is not a fool. So II follows, I does not.Verification/AlternativeVenn viewpoint: the region Always successful is disjoint from Fools; Raman is placed in the Always successful region, so he is outside Fools.Common pitfallsIgnoring the exclusion and thinking both could hold together, which violates Premise 2.Final AnswerOnly conclusion II follows.

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