UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

The middle term is the one that occurs in each of the two premises but does not appear in the conclusion. Its function is to link the major and minor terms, thereby allowing a relation to be inferred between them. Proper distribution of the middle term is essential for the validity of the syllogism. Hence the term described in the stem is the middle term.

Option A:
Option A, major, is the predicate of the conclusion and appears in the major premise and the conclusion. It is not confined to the premises alone and therefore does not match the description.

Option B:
Option B, minor, is the subject of the conclusion and appears in the minor premise and the conclusion. Like the major term, it is not the connecting term exclusively in the premises.

Option C:
Option C, predicate, is a grammatical role and in logic corresponds to the term that is asserted of the subject in a proposition. While the major term is often a predicate, predicate is not the specific label for the term appearing only in the premises.

Option D:
Option D is correct because the middle term uniquely occupies the central position, joining the premises without entering the conclusion. Its correct distribution ensures that the premises genuinely support the stated relation between subject and predicate in the conclusion.

The figure of a syllogism is classified according to how the middle term is placed in the major and minor premises. Different arrangements of the middle term yield the first, second, third or fourth figure. This position affects which moods will produce valid arguments. Therefore the element that determines figure is the middle term.

Option A:
Option A, major term, appears in the major premise and the conclusion but its position does not by itself determine the figure. It is always the predicate of the conclusion regardless of figure.

Option B:
Option B, minor term, is the subject of the conclusion and occurs in the minor premise, yet its location relative to the middle does not provide the basis for the figure classification.

Option C:
Option C is correct because the middle term is the connecting link between major and minor terms, and its positions across the two premises define the structural pattern of the syllogism. Knowing where the middle term stands allows us to identify the figure precisely.

Option D:
Option D, distributed term, refers to whether a term refers to all members of its class in a proposition, which is important for testing validity but is not what figure classification is based on.