Question:medium

All men are chairs. John Doe is a man. In logical language, therefore:

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When faced with absurd premises in logical reasoning, follow the premises as stated for the sake of deduction, even though the conclusion may not make sense in the real world.
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • John Doe is a chair
  • John Doe is a human being and therefore he cannot be a chair
  • A man cannot be a chair in any case
  • Chairs can be men
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The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

Logic problems like this ask what conclusion the premises force us to accept, not whether the premises are realistic.

  1. John Doe is a chair: follows directly from "all men are chairs" plus "John Doe is a man", the same "All A are B, C is A, so C is B" pattern used in any valid syllogism.
  2. John Doe is a human being and therefore cannot be a chair: rejects the given premise using outside knowledge instead of reasoning from it.
  3. A man cannot be a chair in any case: contradicts the first premise outright rather than working from it.
  4. Chairs can be men: reverses the premise; "all men are chairs" does not mean all chairs are men.

Therefore, the correct answer is John Doe is a chair.

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Approach Solution -2

Replacing "chair" with a meaningless placeholder shows this argument is purely a matter of structure, not of what the words actually mean. Say "all men are Z" and "John Doe is a man." Substituting John Doe into the rule gives "John Doe is Z," no matter what Z stands for, and putting "chair" back in place of Z gives exactly "John Doe is a chair." Let's check each option against this substitution.

  1. John Doe is a chair: matches the placeholder substitution exactly, "John Doe is Z" becomes "John Doe is a chair" once Z is replaced back with "chair."
  2. John Doe is a human being and therefore he cannot be a chair: brings in a fact about being human that isn't part of either given premise, "all men are Z" or "John Doe is a man," so it isn't a substitution into the rule at all.
  3. A man cannot be a chair in any case: denies the "all men are Z" premise outright instead of substituting into it.
  4. Chairs can be men: reverses the direction of the rule; "all men are Z" doesn't say "all Z are men."

Therefore, the correct answer is John Doe is a chair.

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Top Questions on Statements

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Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

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Read the passage and answer the question.

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According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi's experiment?
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct.

Which of the following statements is 'not true' in the context of the passage?
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