FIGURE

FIGURE, in Logic, denotes a certain order and disposition of the middle term in any syllogism.

Figures are fourfold. 1. When the middle term is the subject of the major proposition, and the predicate of the minor, we have what is called the first figure. 2. When the middle term is the predicate of both the premises, the syllogism is said to be in the second figure. 3. If the middle term is the subject of the two premises, the syllogism is in the third figure: and lastly, by making it the predicate of the major, and subject of the minor, we obtain syllogisms in the fourth figure. Each of these figures has a determinate number of moods, including all the possible ways in which propositions differing in quantity or quality can be combined, according to any disposition of the middle term, in order to arrive at a just conclusion. See LOGIC.