 This description is closely related to the general principle that the Logic laid down for the evaluation of syllogisms. That principle required that one take the conclusion of a syllogism as true and then examine or inspect what is contained in the conclusion in search of a more general truth from which the conclusion follows. Although the Logic does not explicitly state that formal rules for syllogisms should be valued less than the analytic method, it is clear that this is what the authors had in mind when saying that the only point in learning formal rules for syllogisms is obtaining mental exercise. Synthetic demonstrations are cheap because whenever one has successfully performed an analysis, one is trivially in possession of a synthesis as well. The methods of analysis and synthesis,