Philosophy, math and poets
Logic puzzles require you to think. You will have to be logical in your reasoning.
Are these 4 statements logically compatible?
#1-Some mathematicians are philosophers.
#2-Immortals are ignorant of philosophy
#3-No poet practices mathematics.
#4-All mortals are poets.
Answer
Start with the statement #2. If immortals are ignorant of philosophy, philosophers must be mortals, otherwise they would be ignorant of philosophy. Since statement #4 says all mortals are poets, philosophers must be poets. Since statement #3 says no poet practices mathematics, no philosopher does either. So, a mathematician cannot be a philosopher, which makes statement #1 inconsistent with the other 3 statements.
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Comments
krishnan   
Aug 16, 2003
| I enjoyed this one. |
boodler
Nov 25, 2005
| I also enjoyed it; didn't get it though!  |
stephiesd
Dec 09, 2005
| I guesed no, because if they were, they probably wouldn't have required thinking.
I'm SO confused.  |
sugarnspice4u7
Jan 22, 2006
| pretty fun!  |
mik512
Feb 20, 2006
| i dont like poetry but i still liked this   |
calmsavior
Apr 26, 2006
| bad bad teaser ( |
stang99 
May 15, 2006
| Hey man I liked it a lot. I lov these types. Keep up the good work!  |
tonjawithaj
Jun 12, 2006
| I like this...althoguht wouldn't it logically follow that mathmeticians are not mortals?  |
coryphaeus
Jan 03, 2007
| tonjawithaj: since the statements don't jive, i don't think you can logically conclude anything further unless you eliminate a statement. If statement 1 is true, then some mathmaticians are philosophers, all of whom are mortal. so some have to be mortal. depends on which of the 4 you eliminate... |
brudork
Mar 10, 2007
| ?????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????? |
Jimbo 
Mar 11, 2007
| A thoroughly difficult but enjoyable puzzle. Using a Venn diagram helps. |
slicktrumpet
Apr 10, 2007
| That's clever! Very very good. |
coolboy66
Dec 31, 2010
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