{"id":4346,"date":"2021-08-05T18:29:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T16:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/?p=4346"},"modified":"2025-08-05T21:44:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T19:44:54","slug":"a-simili-eng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/a-simili-eng\/","title":{"rendered":"A Simili"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A SIMILI argument<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

The following three Latin terms cover the field of analogy: similis,<\/em>\u00a0similitudo<\/em> – analogia (<\/em>which came to Latin from Greek). Their global meaning covers the field(s) of \u00ab\u00a0analogy, similarity, resemblance, comparison (up to identity), example\u00a0\u00bb.
\nThe corresponding terms, argument a simili<\/em> – argument ex similitudine<\/em> – argument per analogiam,<\/em> may broadly cover cases corresponding to other, more specific, argument schemes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Cicero’s \u201cA Similitudine\u201d: \u201cArgument Based on Resemblance or Analogy\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

Under this heading, Cicero cites the similarity of a case to be judged with another case in which the decision is clear (where justice has already been served). It is therefore a kind of precedent (Top. III, 14; Hubbell, p. 393) :<\/p>\n

If a man has received by will the usufruct of a house, and the house has collapsed or is in disrepair, the heir (i.e., the remainderman) is not bound to restore or repair it, any more than he would have been bound to replace a slave of whom the usufruct had been bequeathed, if the slave had died.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following case allows for an interesting variety of analyses, or cross-analyses (\u00ab\u00a0On Similarity,\u00a0\u00bb Top. X 41; Hubbell, p. 413):<\/p>\n

If honesty is required of a guardian, a partner, a bailee, and a trustee, it is required of an agent (p. 413). This form of argument, which achieves the desired proof by citing several parallels, is called induction in Greek [epagoge<\/em>].<\/span><\/p>\n

This case can be seen as an induction as well as a categorization and\/or an application of the generic<\/a> clause.<\/p>\n

With a simili<\/em>, a similitudine<\/em>, we remain in the large family of analogy and comparison.<\/p>\n

2. Perelman: A Simili<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Perelman defines the argument a simili<\/em> or \u201cby analogy\u201d as follows:<\/p>\n

A legal proposition being given, which affirms a legal obligation relative to a subject or a class of subjects, this same obligation exists with regard to any other subject or class of subjects having with the first subject (or class of subjects) sufficient analogy so that the reason which determined the rule with respect to the first subject (or class of subjects) is valid with respect to the second subject (or class of subjects). Thus, the fact of having forbidden a traveler to climb on the steps accompanied by a dog leads us to the rule that it is also necessary to forbid it to a traveler accompanied by an equally inconvenient animal. (1979, p. 56)<\/p>\n

Applying the a fortiori<\/a><\/em> rule, travelers may be accompanied by an animal \u201cless<\/em> inconvenient\u201d than a dog (perhaps a cat?)\u201d but not by an animal more<\/em> inconvenient (a goat?)
\nAs the extension clause \u201can equally inconvenient animal<\/em>\u201d shows, the a simili<\/em> argument relies on categorization<\/strong><\/a> mechanisms. It involves the same kind of reasoning as a pari<\/a>, and the rule of justice<\/a>.
\nThe terminology seems somewhat overlapping, see analogy<\/a>; <\/strong>genus<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A SIMILI argument The following three Latin terms cover the field of analogy: similis,\u00a0similitudo – analogia (which came to Latin from Greek). Their global meaning covers the field(s) of \u00ab\u00a0analogy, similarity, resemblance, comparison (up to identity), example\u00a0\u00bb. The corresponding terms, argument a simili – argument ex similitudine – argument per analogiam, may broadly cover cases […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4346"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14647,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions\/14647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}