PART V.-ARGUMENT.1

CHAPTER I.-PURE ARGUMENT.

LESSON LXVII.

I. Argumentation.-I. Induction and Deduction.Discourse intended to convince one of the truth or falsity of a statement is Argument. To establish a new fact we proceed from particular instances to a conclusion. Observing the death of many human beings we conclude, All men are mortal. Noting that a large class of phenomena can be explained only on the assumption of the rotundity of the earth we conclude, The earth is round.

This method of reasoning from particulars to a conclusion is induction.

Deduction. But we may deduce a conclusion from judgments already made-out of two statements deriving a third.

(i) All men are mortal (major premise, general statement).

1 The treatment of the laws and errors of reasoning belongs to an advanced study of Argument. The teacher is referred, for the development of this process of composition, to Abbott and Seeley's English Lessons for English People, Hill's Principles of Rhetoric, Jevon's Logic, J. S. Mill's Logic, or Baker's Principles of Argumentation.

(ii) Socrates is a man (minor premise, particular statement).

(iii) Therefore Socrates is mortal (conclusion). This is deduction.

2. Syllogism. This logical form made up of two premises and a conclusion is called a syllogism. In popular speech one premise is usually understood. We say simply, This novel is a failure because it lacks action and character; but the full syllogism would be, The novels that lack action and character are failures (major premise). This novel lacks action and character (minor premise). Therefore this novel is a failure (conclusion). In ordinary reasoning the inductive and deductive methods are usually employed side by side.

3. Errors in Reasoning.-Erroneous reasoning in Induction arises when the nature of the facts does not warrant the conclusion drawn, or when the number of cases observed is insufficient to establish it. Errors in deductive reasoning arise from the falsity of either premise or of the conclusion alleged to be drawn from the premises. Confusion as to the sense of the terms of the proposition is also a fruitful cause of error.

4. Form. The form of an argument may be studied in Euclid's demonstrations. There we find, first, the enunciation of what is to be proved-the proposition. Then follow the statements that tend to create belief in the Proposition—the proof.

Finally the statement of the result of the proof gives the conclusion.

An extended argumentation involving several arguments is generally introduced by an exordium, stating

the nature and importance, and forecasting the course of the discussion. This exordium usually precedes the definite enunciation of the Proposition. Such an argumentation generally has likewise at the end of the Proof a recapitulation of the arguments, called the peroration. The Peroration serves as a brief, forcible introduction to the Conclusion.

5. Methods of Proof.-Proof that consists of reasoned statements of the writer in favor of his own position is direct proof. Proof that consists of the refutation of the proof of the opposite proposition is indirect proof. To refute an unsound argument, you may ironically assume the truth of the opposite proposition and push it to the extreme, when it is found to be absurd (reductio ad absurdum). For example: That reading is harmful because it is liable to abuse, would be proved absurd by showing that this would prove that eating is likewise harmful. Or you may show that the opposite conclusion involves alternatives, each of which you prove erroneous (the dilemma). Or you may take all possible conclusions or theories other than your own, and show one by one that they must be excluded, leaving your own conclusion as alone satisfactory (method of residues).

EXERCISE.-Examine the truth or falsity of the conclusion in the following:-(1) All grass is green; leaves are green; therefore leaves are grass. (2) All Frenchmen are fond of frogs' legs; John Bull is not a Frenchman; therefore John Bull is not fond of frogs' legs. (3) Nothing is better than wisdom; bread is better than nothing; therefore bread is better than wisdom (New

comer). (4) All men are endowed with reason; all fools are men; therefore all fools are endowed with reason (Abbott-Seeley). (5) Some clever men are dishonest; no good man is dishonest; therefore some clever men are good. (6) Football should be stopped because it is the cause of many accidents. (7) He must be guilty, because he blushes. (8) All men should swim because swimming expands the chest. (9) Poverty is the best teacher, for Lincoln, Garfield, Edison, Carlyle, Burns, were all poor. (10) No good man would use such an argument, for it is one employed by Machiavelli himself. (11) That man is an enemy of religion, for he never goes to church. (12) Greek, being a dead language, is of no use to living men (Hill). (13) Voluntary competition is a good thing in trade, and so must be a good thing in education; parents should not be forced to send their children to school. (14) Thieving is my vocation. It is not wrong for a man to

labor in his vocation.

LESSON LXVIII.

I. Theme:-INDUCTIVE REASONING FROM ANALOGY: THAT ANIMALS SUFFER FROM CRUEL TREATMENT.

These poor animals just look, and tremble, and give forth the very indications of suffering that we do. Theirs is the distinct cry of pain. Theirs is the unequivocal physiognomy of pain. They put on the same aspect of terror on the demonstrations of a menaced blow. They exhibit the same distortions of agony after the infliction

of it. The bruise, or the burn, or the fracture, or the deep incision, or the fierce encounter with one of equal or superior strength, just affects them similarly to ourselves. Their blood circulates as ours. They have pulsations in various parts of the body like ours. They sicken, and they grow feeble with age, and, finally, they die just as we do. They possess the same feelings; and, what exposes them to like suffering from another quarter, they possess the same instincts with our own species. The lioness robbed of her whelps causes the wilderness to ring aloud with the proclamation of her wrongs; or the bird whose little household has been stolen fills and saddens all the grove with melodies of deepest pathos. (Therefore, etc.)

-Thomas Chalmers. From "Cruelty to Animals."

II. Composition.-1. Outline the argument of the preceding passage. Reproduce the arguments in your own words, stating the probable conclusion.

2. Write a similar argument concerning the plurality of inhabited planets.

OUTLINE: Proposition. That other planets of our system (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, etc.) are inhabited. Proof.-Points of similarity between them and the earth; revolution round the sun; their source of light from the sun; revolution on their own axis; moons; law of gravitation. Conclusion.-From these similarities we conclude a probable further agreement that the other planets are, like the earth, the habitation of living creatures.

3. Prove the proposition: That the Earth is round.

OUTLINE: The Proposition. Cumulative Proof. — (i) The appearance of the vessel sinking below the horizon, and of the land rising to the approaching vessel. (ii) The traveller going north or