S G E ∴ This man is not to be trusted. _Valid in form._ ――― ――――――― M G (3) A All gravitating bodies are material, ―――――――――――――――――― S M E Ether does not gravitate, ――――― ――――――――― S G E ∴ Ether is not material. _Illicit major._ ――――― ―――――――― M G (4) A All who despise knowledge are fools, ――――――――――――――――――――― S M E This man does not despise knowledge, ――― ――――――――――――――――― S G E ∴ This man is not a fool. _Illicit major._ ――― ―――― M (5) E No one who merely does what is pleasing to himself has ――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――― G merit in relieving distress, ――――――――――――――――――――――――――― S M A A charitable man merely does what is pleasing to himself, ―――――――――――――― S G E ∴ No charitable man has merit in relieving distress. _Valid ―――――――――――――― ――――――――――――――――――――――――――― in form._ M G (6) A All the rich buy justice, S M A All who get justice are rich, ――――――――――――――― S G A ∴ All who get justice buy it. _Valid in form._ ――――――――――――――― In supplying suppressed premises the critic is duty bound to give the author the benefit of the doubt, if by so doing no principle in logic is violated and the proposition conforms to good English and good sense. Often it is not easy to perceive in the abbreviated argument the meaning intended; in such instances all legitimate effort should be directed to making the argument valid. To illustrate: In supplying the major premise of argument “6” it would be easy to make it, “All justice is bought by the rich”; in consequence the critic could pronounce the argument invalid as the middle term would be undistributed. Before asserting that an argument is fallacious because it has four terms rather than three, the student must make sure that there are no synonyms or equivalents used. In argument “4,” for instance, there are apparently the four terms: (1) “foolish,” (2) “despise knowledge,” (3) “man,” (4) “fool”; but to regard “_foolish_” and “_fool_” as synonyms does not seem like undue liberty. The following arguments further illustrate this need of _recognizing synonyms_: