Which statement describes illicit major?

• A. The major term is distributed in the premises but not in the conclusion.
• B. The minor term is distributed in the conclusion but not in the premises.
• C. The major term is distributed in the conclusion but not distributed in the premises.
• D. The middle term is distributed in the conclusion.

Answer: (C)

In this area, distribution explains whether a term is claimed to cover all members of its class within a proposition. The major term is the term that appears as the predicate in the conclusion. An illicit major happens when the conclusion makes a universal claim about the major term (the major term is distributed in the conclusion), but neither premise distributes that same term. In that situation, the conclusion goes beyond what the premises actually establish, so the argument is invalid.

That's exactly the situation described: the major term is distributed in the conclusion but not distributed in the premises. The other patterns involve distributing the wrong term (the minor term in the conclusion) or not addressing distribution of the major term in the premises, which describe different issues.