It is far from wonderful that the syllogistic art should have been thought to be of no use in assisting correct reasoning, when almost the only propositions which, in the hands of its professed teachers, it was employed to prove, were such as every one assented to without proof the moment he comprehended the meaning of the words; and stood exactly on a level, in point of evidence, with the premisses from which they were drawn.
"A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2)"
John Stuart Mill
We have now to inquire, whether the syllogistic process, that of reasoning from generals to particulars, is, or is not, a process of inference; a progress from the known to the unknown; a means of coming to a knowledge of something which we did not know before.
"A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2)"
John Stuart Mill
As I believe both these opinions to be fundamentally erroneous, I must request the attention of the reader to certain considerations, without which any just appreciation of the true character of the syllogism, and the functions it performs in philosophy, appears to me impossible; but which seem to have been either overlooked, or insufficiently adverted to, both by the defenders of the syllogistic theory and by its assailants.
"A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2)"
John Stuart Mill