The middle term — the connector: The middle term (Hadd al-Awsat) is the connector of the syllogism. It appears in both premises — as the predicate of the major premise and the subject of the minor premise in Figure 1 — and it disappears in the conclusion, because its job is done: it has linked the minor term to the major term.
The three terms: The three terms are: Akbar (major term — the predicate of the conclusion), Asghar (minor term — the subject of the conclusion), and Awsat (middle term — the connector). The middle term must satisfy two conditions (given in the Final Assessment, Slide 73, Q11): it must connect major and minor, and it must be distributed at least once and without ambiguity.
As strong as its middle term: If it is not distributed, the argument commits the Undistributed Middle error — one of the ten fallacies in Session 10. A syllogism is only as strong as its middle term.
Example
Every human is mortal: "Every human is mortal. Zayd is a human.
Therefore Zayd is mortal: Therefore Zayd is mortal." The middle term is "human".
The middle term disappears: It appears in both premises and disappears in the conclusion. If you replace it with an undistributed term — "Some humans are scholars.
When the argument collapses: Zayd is a scholar. Therefore Zayd is a human" — the argument collapses, because "scholar" does not distribute.
Key Terms
- Hadd al-Awsat (الحد الأوسط) — middle term
- Undistributed Middle — غیر تقسیم شدہ وسط
Quran or Hadith
None known from the slide title.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A triangle diagram: the middle term at the top connecting the two premises at the base, with an arrow showing it disappearing in the conclusion. To be drawn in Project Desk colours.
Note: Slide 41 was not read; this topic is from the slide filename, Topic 7.1, and the Final Assessment. Verify before publication.
- The middle term (Hadd al-Awsat) is the connector of the syllogism.
- "Every human is mortal. Zayd is a human. Therefore Zayd is mortal."