If a term is distributed in the conclusion, what must follow according to the quantitative rules?

• A. It must not be distributed in the premises
• B. It must be distributed in the premises
• C. It must be the major term
• D. It must be the minor term

Answer: (B)

Being distributed means treating the term as referring to all of its members in that statement. If a term is distributed in the conclusion, the argument must also distribute that same term in at least one of the premises to justify that universal claim about all of its members. This is the quantitative rule: a distributed term in the conclusion must be distributed in the premises. For example, from All S are M and All M are P, we conclude All S are P; here the subject term S is distributed in both the conclusion and the first premise, so the reasoning is valid. If the conclusion distributes a term but none of the premises do, the argument would illegitimately generalize from partial information. The major and minor terms aren’t what determines distribution—the rule is about distributing terms in the premises to support their distribution in the conclusion.