[12]
There is another
form of conclusion which is not actually identical
with the major premise, but has the same force
“Death is nothing to us, for that which is dissolved
into its elements is devoid of' feeling, and that
which is devoid of feeling is nothing to us.” There
is a third form in which the major premise and the
conclusion are different. “All animate things are
better than inanimate, but there is nothing better
than the universe, wherefore the universe is animate.” It may be thought that in this case there is
no real major premise, since it would be possible
to state the reasoning in the following form: “The
universe is animate, for all things animate are better
than inanimate,” etcetera.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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