that opinion, shall we swing for it? We are ready to die for our country, but it is rather an awkward business, this dying without touching the ground! After all, that is a sort of hemp tax worse than any part of the tariff. "Mr. President, the honorable gentleman would be in a dilemma, like that of another great general. He would have a knot before him which he could not untie. He must cut it with his sword. He must say to his followers, 'Defend yourselves with your bayonets'; and this is war, - civil war. "Direct collision, therefore, between force and force is the unavoidable result of that remedy for the revision of unconstitutional laws which the gentleman contends for. It must happen in the very first case to which it is applied.” 1 3. BASIS OF LOGIC. On the basis of direction, or logical process, arguments are Deductive or Inductive; deductive when they move from the general toward the specific, inductive when Deductive Argument Defined. they move from the specific toward the general. Deductive arguments evolve from a general principle or truth, a principle less general or a specific fact. They apply a general rule to a particular case. They infer an effect from an adequate cause, a deed from a motive, a phenomenon from an antecedent general condition. The general cause, condition, rule, law or truth, is reached by induction, a process proceeding from specific examples to a principle including all kindred cases. Long and continual practice in inferring principles from particular facts, develops an insight for general conclusions. Experience renders many general truths practically self-evident. From the low temperature the deduction is made 2 Page 108. 1 Great Speeches, 266. that standing water will be frozen; from the force and extent of a cyclone, that property and lives will be destroyed. From the general principle that unscrupulous men will murder for money, Deduction. Webster made the deduction that the Knapps Examples of might have killed Captain White; from the condition of the Colonies, Burke deduced their love of liberty and spirit of disobedience : "Then, Sir, from these six capital sources of descent, of form of government, of religion in the Northern Provinces, of manners in the Southern, of education, of the remoteness of situation from the first mover of government from all these causes a fierce spirit of liberty has grown up. It has grown with the growth of the people in your Colonies, and increased with the increase of their wealth; a spirit that unhappily meeting with an exercise of power in England which, however lawful, is not reconcilable to any ideas of liberty, much less with theirs, has kindled this flame that is ready to consume us.” 1 Rhetorical Syllogism. Deductive argumentation is demonstrative in form; it is demonstrative in fact except when its premises are based on imperfect induction. It meets the conditions of a complete syllogism, which is its formal instrument. The rhetorical syllogism consists of three essential parts: (1) a general rule which may be a universal truth, or a generalization from experience; (2) an intermediate statement bringing the particular case within the rule; and (3) the application of the rule to the particular case. Or, the three essential statements may be described as (1) an assertion concerning a class; (2) a statement bringing a particular within that class; and (3) the same assertion concerning that particular. 1 Select Works, I. 184. Logically the syllogism is defined as "the act of thought by which from two given propositions we proceed to a third proposition, the truth of which necessarily follows from the truth of these given propositions." The special rules of the syllogism are founded upon the laws of thought. They serve to inform exactly in what circumstances Logical one proposition can be inferred from two others. "1. Every syllogism has three and only three terms. These terms are called the major term, the minor term, and the middle term. Terms and 2. Every syllogism contains three and only three propositions. These propositions are called the major premise, the univer sal truth or general rule or law; the minor premise, the statement bringing the particular case within this law, or principle; and the conclusion, the application of the principle, or the truth deduced from what precedes. 3. The middle term must be distributed once at least, and must not be ambiguous. 4. No term must be distributed in the conclusion which was not distributed in one of the premises. 5. From negative premises nothing can be inferred. 6. If one premise be negative, the conclusions must be negative; and vice versa, to prove a negative conclusion one of the premises must be negative. From the above rules may be deduced two subordinate rules, which it will be convenient to state at once: 7. From two particular premises no conclusion can be drawn. 8. If one premise be particular, the conclusion must be particular." 2 The middle term occurs in both premises but not in the conclusion. The major term is predicate of the conclusion. The minor term is subject of the conclusion. These terms are thus named because in the universal affirmative proposition, the predicate is necessarily a wider and more inclusive term than the subject. In the statement, "All men are mortal" the pred 1 Jevons, Lessons in Logic, 127. 2 Ibid. icate includes all other animals as well as men. The middle term is that by means of which the other two are compared. In the complete concrete syllogism, All Indians are dark-skinned (major premise), Red Jacket is dark-skinned (conclusion), Syllogism Illustrated. it is asserted, first, that every member of the class, Indian, is dark-skinned; second, that Red Jacket is included in the class, Indian; and third, that what is asserted of the class, Indian, is true of a member of that class, Red Jacket. Nothing is affirmed in the conclusion beyond what is affirmed in the premises. If the premises are true and the reasoning is valid, the conclusion must follow. Whether the premises can be proved true or not, depends upon the character and use of evidence; whether the reasoning is valid or not, can be shown by applying the rules of the syllogism, which is the province of Logic. Syllogism. Very rarely in literary argument do reasoners make use of the complete syllogism, except to render perfectly apparent the premises from which the conclusion is deduced, or to show some fault in reasoning. Deductive arguments take various forms. Kinds of One premise, or even the conclusion, may not be expressed if obvious enough to be taken for granted; in this case the syllogism is called an enthymeme. One of the premises may be conditional, which gives the hypothetical syllogism. A syllogistic argument may be involved in a statement with its reasons, or with its inferences, or may be diffused throughout an extended discussion. To argue effectively, with clearness and cogency, the reasoner must have his deductive frame work clearly in mind at every point of his discussion, and keep it before the reader or hearer. Suggested In the following paragraph from Burke,' from (1) and (2), the conclusion may be drawn, "I mean to offer reconciliation." Combining (1) with the second clause of (2) gives, “I mean to make concession." From the second clause of (2), with the supplied premise, (3) may be deduced. (2) combined with (5) also gives (3). Expansion of (5) would give, "We are the superior power; we may offer peace with honor and with safety." Expansion of (7) gives, "The colonies are the weaker; the concession of the colonies would be the concession of fear." Still other syllogisms are obviously suggested: 66 "(1) I mean to give peace. (2) Peace implies reconciliation; and where there has been a material dispute, reconciliation does in a manner always imply concession on the one part or on the other. (3) In this state of things I make no difficulty in affirming that the proposal ought to originate from us. (4) Great and acknowledged force is not impaired, either in effect or in opinion, by an unwillingness to exert itself. (5) The superior power may offer peace with honor and with safety. (6) Such an offer from such a power will be attributed to magnanimity. (7) But the concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear. (8) When such a one is disarmed, he is wholly at the mercy of his superior; and he loses forever that time and those chances, which, as they happen to all men, are the strength and resources of all inferior power." The same argument may be presented in many forms. (1) A well-policed city will be free from crime; Berlin is a well-policed city; Berlin will be free from crime. Various (2) If a well-policed city will be free from crime, Berlin will be free from crime, for it is well policed. (3) If Berlin is well policed, it will be free from crime, for a well-policed city will be free from crime. 1 Select Works, I. 167. |