Enthymeme | Syllogism, Argumentation, Deduction (2024)

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What is an example of an enthymeme argument? ›

enthymeme, in syllogistic, or traditional, logic, name of a syllogistic argument that is incompletely stated. In the argument “All insects have six legs; therefore, all wasps have six legs,” the minor premise, “All wasps are insects,” is suppressed.

As already indicated, this would help to explain (a) that typically Aristotelian enthymemes do not comply with the form of the categorical syllogisms that we know from his Prior Analytics and (b) that according to Aristotle certain sign enthymemes are not deductively valid, but are nevertheless said to be 'enthymemes'.

enthymeme - an argument in which at least one of the propositions required for formal validity (either a premiss or a conclusion) is left unstated. An enthymeme cannot be regarded as invalid. Rather, it is up to us to make the enthymeme valid by adding the missing statement.

Note: Most sources define an enthymeme as an argument in which a premise is missing; nevertheless, some enthymemes omit the conclusion in order to tweak a rhetorical effect: “Self-absorbed people don't help charities and I know you're not self-absorbed.”

Enthymemes are based upon one or other of four kinds of alleged fact: (1) Probabilities, (2) Examples, (3) Infallible Signs, (4) Ordinary Signs. (1) Enthymemes based upon Probabilities are those which argue from what is, or is supposed to be, usually true.

While syllogisms lay out all of their premises and conclusion explicitly, these kinds of enthymemes keep at least one of the premises or the conclusion unstated.

With this type of reasoning, if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true. Logically Sound Deductive Reasoning Examples: All dogs have ears; golden retrievers are dogs, therefore they have ears. All racing cars must go over 80MPH; the Dodge Charger is a racing car, therefore it can go over 80MPH.

Enthymeme (EN-thuh-meme): A figure of reasoning in which one or more statements of a syllogism (a three-pronged deductive argument) is/are left out of the configuration; an abbreviated syllogism or truncated deductive argument in which one or more premises, or, the conclusion is/are omitted.

Syllogism is a “Greek” word that means inference or deduction. As such inferences are based on logic, then there inferences that are called logical deduction. These deductions are based on propositions or premises.

Enthymemes are variations of syllogisms, logical arguments that utilize deductive reasoning to make a conclusion based on two or more propositions assumed to be true. In Rhetoric, Aristotle theorized that all syllogisms have three elements: a major premise, a minor premise, and a valid conclusion.

What is a pathetic enthymeme? ›

The goal of a pathetic enthymeme is to. inspire a specific emotion in the audience and to focus that emotion in a way that will help the speaker accomplish the persuasive task. 'focus the attention of the audience on the thesis.

A CLAIM (thesis) with REASONS (sub-‐claims) supported by EVIDENCE is referred to as an ENTHYMEME. AN ENTHYMEME IS AN INCOMPLETE LOGICAL STRUCTURE BECAUSE ITS PERSUASIVENESS DEPENDS ON AN UNDERLYING ASSUMPTION OR BELIEF (WARRANT) THAT THE AUDIENCE MUST ACCEPT.

Seen as either truncated syllogisms or a syllogism based on reasoning from sign, cause, generalization, or analogy, enthymemes are common forms of inductive argument. An enthymeme is an argument where one of the premises is supplied by the audience--an assumption that the speaker makes when making an argument.

According to Aristotle, we speak: of an enthymeme "if, certain things [premises] being the case, something else [the conclusion] beyond them results by virtue of their being the case, either universally or for the most part" (1.2. 9: 1356b 15-17). : 1358alO-35, cf 2.22. 16-17: 1396b28-97al and 3.1.

(1) An enthymeme is a syllogism in which one of the three propositions is omitted. Suppressing the major premise gives an enthymeme of the first order; omitting the minor gives one of the second order; while omitting the conclusion gives one of the third order. The enthymeme is really the natural form of expression.

An enthymeme uses a because clause to make a claim the writer will defend: There has never been a "noble savage," as such, because even prehistoric human beings fought frequent wars for numerous reasons.

An example of a syllogism is "All mammals are animals. All elephants are mammals. Therefore, all elephants are animals." In a syllogism, the more general premise is called the major premise ("All mammals are animals").