Which of the following arguments is fallacious because the major term is all…

Concept

In an inference, the reason must support a dependable invariable relation between the property to be proved and the reason-property.

When both terms cover the whole domain, no distinct positive or negative instance remains to test that pervasion; the proposed relation therefore lacks independent establishment.

Application

In “Everything is nameable because it is knowable,” nameability is treated as all-pervasive and knowability as all-inclusive. Because the subject already spans everything, there is no separate similar or dissimilar case by which the relation between knowability and nameability can be established. This is the fallacious pattern described in the stem.

Contrast

• “The sky-lotus is fragrant because it is a lotus” raises the prior problem of an unestablished subject, since a sky-lotus has no accepted locus.

• “Socrates is immortal because he died long ago” uses a reason that conflicts with the property asserted.

• “Sound is eternal because it is audible” uses audibility as a reason confined to the stated subject rather than making both terms universal over everything.

• “Everything is nameable because it is knowable” makes the subject universal and leaves no independent cases for testing pervasion.

Cross-check

Test the statements against the wording “major term all-pervasive and middle term all-inclusive.” Only the nameability–knowability argument explicitly ranges both predicates over everything. Therefore, the answer is “Everything is nameable because it is knowable.”