medical diagnosis - identification of a disease from its symptoms. diagnosing, diagnosis - identifying the nature or cause of some phenomenon. differential diagnosis - a systematic method of diagnosing a disorder (e.g., headache) that lacks unique symptoms or signs. medical prognosis, prognosis, prospect - a prediction of the course of a disease. diagnostic procedure, diagnostic technique - a procedure followed in making a medical diagnosis.
Definition: In logic, a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Adjective: syllogistic. Here is an example of a valid categorical syllogism: Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded. Minor premise: All black dogs are mammals. Conclusion: Therefore, all black dogs are warm-blooded. In rhetoric, an abridged or informally stated syllogism is called an enthymeme.
The law of syllogism makes an assumption that the first two statements are true. If these are not actually true, then the third statement may not be reasonable. The example of the television ad didn't use exactly the same wording as we have used in our examples, but the idea is the same.