All brown cow are cow, but not all cow are brown and not all brown are cow.?

Question

Can anyone define this phrase?

Answer 1

Define it? I can explain it...

All brown cows are cows. However, that doesn't mean that all cows are brown, or that all brown things are cows.

It's a logical model.

Answer 2

This is a three possibility statement, it helps to make one think:

Although I do not know where this exact statement comes from, in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of debate, one learns to understand the possibility of connections between two phenomenon. It helps to open ones eyes.

All brown cows are cows , but not all cows are brown and not all brown are cows

You can derive the possibilites from two parts, brown cows and cows

Possibility 1: All brown cows are cows- there is no such thing as a brown cow that is not a cow ALTHOUGH

Possibility 2: Not all cows are brown- they can be black and white, etc... ALSO

Possibility 3: Not all brown are cows, there can be brown cows, and brown fabric, brown dirt, brown candles etc...AND (implied in the sentence)

Answer 3

I agree with the first one. If it's a brown cow, it's obviously a cow. But not all cows are brown because some are black or black and white. And just because it's brown doesn't mean it's a cow because it could be a horse, of course :P. It's like the one that says "if you're at school, you're not at home. Is this statement also true in reverse?", or something like that and it's not because if you're at school, you're obviously not at home, but if you're not home, you're not necessarily at school because you could be at work, at the movies, at the mall, etc. I had to do a bunch of those riddles in Math class. They're kind of brain-teasers supposed to teach you logic and reasoning... or just confuse the hell out of you :)

Answer 4

All brown cows are still cows, some things brown are cows but not all cows are brown.

Answer 5

Some cows are brown.
Some brown things are cows.
Not all cows are brown.
Some brown things aren't cows.

Answer 6

How now brown cow.

Answer 7

brown, is the dutch word for cow