Kinds of Arguments

Uckelman, Sara L.

Abstract

The central methodology in western philosophy from the ancient Greeks is argumentation. Dialectical arguments are weaker than demonstrative ones, in that they lead to conclusions which are merely probable, rather than necessarily true; the weakness of the argument stems from the weakness of the premises, and not from any defect in the type of argument itself. A demonstrative argument is one which produces knowledge; they are the topic of Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics , which discusses how scientific knowledge and discovery is possible. An argument is identified as demonstrative, dialectical, or sophistical on the basis of the probity of the conclusion on the basis of the premises. While some medieval authors use “syllogism” and “argument” synonymously, properly speaking syllogisms are a subset of arguments, having a specific form and special properties. Topical arguments take their name from the Topics, and are closely connected to the dialectical reasoning of the section “Dialectical Arguments”.

Citation

Uckelman, S. L. (2021). Kinds of Arguments. In R. Cross, & J. Paasch (Eds.), Routledge Companion to Medieval Philosophy. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315709604

• Online Publication Date: Jan 13, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 7, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 7, 2020
• Publisher: Routledge
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Book Title: Routledge Companion to Medieval Philosophy
• ISBN: 9780415658270
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315709604
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1629841
• Contract Date: Dec 31, 2019