This basic model is as simple and sturdy as a three-legged stool. If you don t, you can t. Take the oldest logical chestnut under the tree. Socrates is mortal. Socrates is a man.
All men are mortal.
Classifying this as a deductive argument and appealing to the arcana of syllogisms misses the point, says Toulmin, by implying the form of the argument is somehow more important than its truth. That s what s important, not major and minor premises. Besides confusing students, emphasizing form leads to a wrongheaded view of truth, he says. There are no perfect arguments, even in the airy realm of deduction. Peek under his himation, I suppose.