All snakes that are venomous are carnivorous. All snakes that are constrictors are carnivorous. Therefore, all snakes are carnivorous. This syllogism is:
A) Valid
B) Invalid (the middle term, carnivorous, is not distributed, and it appears in the conclusion)
C) True
D) False

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The middle term, carnivorous, is not distributed, and it appears in the conclusion. Therefore, the argument is invalid. The fact that all venomous snakes are carnivorous and all constrictor snakes are carnivorous does not necessarily mean that all snakes are carnivorous. There may be some non-venomous and non-constrictor snakes that are not carnivorous.

All Snakes That Are Venomous Are Carnivorous