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(Major Heading)                INTRODUCTION                                     


      The enthymeme in rhetoric correlates to the syllogism in                  


logic.  Both have a major premise, a minor premise, and a                       


conclusion.  For analyzing argumentation, Toulmin has developed a               


system that accounts for the actual reasoning process better than               


the enthymeme.  Figure 1 is an adapted illustration of his                      


system. His method is not an outline of a discourse; instead, it                


represents the movement of thought underlying a discourse.                      

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              Figure I.  Toulmin's analysis of argumentation                    

                                                                                

Data                        Therefore                       Claim               

_________________________________________________________________               

             |              Qualifier                                           

             |                  |                                               

             |                  |                                               

             |                  |                                               

             |                  |                                               

             |                  |                                               

           Since ____________ Unless                                            

          Warrant            Rebuttal                                           

             |                                                                  

             |                                                                  

             |                                                                  

             |                                                                  

             |                                                                  

          Because                                                               

          Backing                                                               

                                                                                

      SOURCE: Adapted from Toulmin, Argument, p. 111.                           

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                A DYNAMIC REPLACEMENT FOR THE ENTHYMEMATIC                      

                                                                                

                          MODEL OF ARGUMENTATION                                

                                                                                

                                                                                

                 _Relationship_of_Enthymemes_to_Syllogisms_                       

                                                                                

                    
                        Differences from Syllogisms                             

   
     An enthymeme differs from a syllogism in two principle                     


areas.                                                                          


     _First_. The rhetor frequently leaves out some portion of the                


enthymeme, a portion that seems self-evident to him.  One seldom                


finds a full three point enthymeme in rhetoric.                                 


     _Second_.  An enthymeme involves probabilities rather than the               


deductive certainty of a syllogism, making the enthymeme more                   


applicable to normal human discourse.  Thus the enthymeme is more               


suited than the formal syllogism for analyzing the quasi-logical                


argumentation found in rhetoric (Perelman 230).                                 

                                                                                

                                     1                                          

________________________________________________________________                

                                                                2               

                                                                                

                        Similarities to Syllogisms                              


      The enthymeme shares certain problems with they syllogism,                


problems that make the enthymeme inadequate as a model of                       


argumentation.                                                                  
                                                                                



_Static_nature_                                                                   


     An enthymematic formulation is static in structure, while                  


argumentation is dynamic.                                                       


                                                                               

Audience concerns                                                               


     Most rhetors and audiences are more concerned with the                     


material under consideration than they are with formal logic;                   


enthymemes can detect flaws in logic, but are ill-equipped to                   


deal with the problem of material validity.  Formal logic                       


produces little new knowledge and fails to represent adequately                 


the human reasoning process.                                                    


     _Failure_to_Persuade_.  The rhetor may be perfectly logical,                 


but if he begins with a premise that the audience rejects, the                  


argumentation fails.  Although the enthymeme involves                           


probabilities, its formulation is absolute, which makes                         


determining the amount of contingency in an argument difficult.                 

 
    _Context_.  Context is one element in the contingency of                     


knowledge; people arrive at knowledge at a given time in their                  


history and within a given situation.  An enthymeme is a                        


statement of knowledge in an timeless synchronic sense; it fails                


to reflect the diachronic limitations of contingent knowledge                   


(Toulmin, Argument 7-17).