{"id":4524,"date":"2021-10-15T11:44:25","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T09:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/?p=4524"},"modified":"2025-08-06T09:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T07:04:18","slug":"ab-arguments-a-contrario-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/ab-arguments-a-contrario-e\/","title":{"rendered":"A \/ Ab \u2014 Arguments (A Contrario\u2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \/ Ab \u2013 arguments, <\/span>e.g.<\/span> \u00ab\u00a0A contrario<\/em>\u00ab\u00a0<\/strong> arg.<\/span><\/h1>\n

Some argument schemes are designated by Latin labels, see Ab<\/em>\u00a0\u2014;\u00a0Ad\u00a0<\/em>\u2014; Ex\u00a0<\/em>\u2014<\/a>. This entry lists the labels using the Latin preposition a<\/em> \/ a<\/em>b.<\/p>\n

The same Latin preposition has two forms, a<\/em> or ab<\/em>: in general, a<\/em> is used before a noun beginning with a consonant (a contrario<\/em> argument), and ab<\/em> before a noun beginning with a vowel (ab auctoritate<\/em> argument).<\/p>\n

1. The Construction<\/span><\/h2>\n

In Classical Latin, the preposition a<\/em> \/ ab<\/em> means \u201cseparation; away from\u201d and governs the ablative case. Grammatically, ab<\/em> \/ a<\/em> introduces only a circumstantial clause of a verb, indicating the origin. This means that the Latin construction \u201cargumentum ab<\/em> + N<\/strong>\u201d is to be interpreted as elliptical for \u201cargumentum<\/em> [ducetur<\/em>, \u201cdrawn\u201d] ab<\/em> [\u201cfrom\u201d] N<\/strong>\u201d. Latin texts regularly use expressions of this type, Cicero for example, wrote in the Topics<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Cum autem <\/em>a genere ducetur argumentum <\/em>(my emphasis) (IX, 39; p. 411);<\/p>\n

that is \u201cwhen, however, an argument is drawn from genus<\/em>\u201d. Genere<\/em> is the ablative case of the noun genus<\/em>; the construction is \u201cargumentum<\/em> [ducetur<\/em>] a genere<\/em>\u201d, \u201cargument [provided by, taken] [from]\u00a0the genus<\/em>\u201d. Similarly, the rhetoric Ad Herennius<\/em> suggests that, in order to amplify the charge, the orator must first look for arguments drawn from authority:<\/p>\n

primus <\/em>locus ab auctoritate sumitur<\/em> (my emphasis) (Ad Her<\/em>., II, 48; p. 147).<\/p>\n

That is \u201cthe first commonplace [primus locus<\/em>] is taken [sumitur<\/em>] from [ab<\/em>] authority [auctoritate<\/em>]\u201d. Auctoritate<\/em> is the ablative case of auctoritas<\/em>, \u201cauthority\u201d. Locus<\/em> literally\u00a0 means \u201cplace\u201d, and is used here metaphorically as \u201cinferential commonplace\u201d or \u201cargument scheme\u201d, see. Topos, Topic Common,place<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. List of the \u201cAb<\/em>\/a<\/em> + N\u201d arguments<\/span><\/h2>\n

The set of \u201cab <\/em>\/ a<\/em> + N<\/strong>\u201d arguments belongs to the original stock of Latin argument labels. Its core is drawn from the Ciceronian typology, passed on to the Middle Ages by Boethius, up to modern times S. Collections (2).<\/a><\/p>\n

Table
\nFirst column: Latin name of the argument
\nSecond column:
\n\u2022 Meaning of the word(s) (based on Gaffiot).<\/span>
\n\u2022 (When necessary a word-for-word translation)<\/span>
\n\u2022 Reference for the corresponding entry.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Latin name of the argument<\/strong><\/td>\n\u2022 Latin term(s) and their English equivalent(s)
\n\u2022 (Global translation)
\n\u2022\u00a0Corresponding entry\/ies.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab auctoritate<\/em><\/td>\nLat. auctoritas, <\/em>\u201cauthority\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0S. Authority<\/a>; Modesty<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a carcere<\/em><\/td>\nLat. carcer<\/em>, \u201cjail\u201d \u2014 S. Threa<\/a><\/span>t<\/a>; Emotion<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a coherentia<\/em><\/td>\nLat. coh\u00e6rentia<\/em>, \u201ccoherence, consistency\u201d \u2014 S. Consistency<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a comparatione<\/em><\/td>\nLat. comparatio<\/em>, \u201ccomparison; confrontation\u201d
\nS. Comparison<\/a>; A fortiori<\/em><\/a>;<\/em> Analogy<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a completudine<\/em><\/td>\nLat. completus<\/em>, \u201ccomplete\u201d \u2014\u00a0S. Completeness<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a conjugata<\/em><\/td>\nLat. conjugatus<\/em> \u201cbelonging to the same family\u201d
\nS. Related Words<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a contrario (sensu)
\n<\/em>(or: ex contrario<\/em>)<\/td>\n		Lat. contrarius<\/em> \u201copposite, contrary\u201d \u2014 S. Opposites<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a consequentibus<\/em><\/td>\nLat. consequens<\/em> \u201cclose; what logically follows\u201d
\n<\/strong>S. Circumstances<\/a>; Consequences.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a fortiori
\na fortiori ratione<\/em><\/td>\n		Lat. a fortiori ratione<\/em>, \u201cfor a stronger reason\u201d; ratio, <\/em>\u201creason\u201d; fortior <\/em>= fortis <\/em>+ higher degree comparative \u201cstronger\u201d \u2014\u00a0S.\u00a0A fortiori<\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a generali sensu<\/em><\/td>\nLat. generalis<\/em>, \u201cgeneral\u201d; sensus<\/em> \u201cmeaning, point of view\u201d \u2014
\nS. Generality of the law<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a genere<\/em><\/td>\nLat. genus<\/em>, \u201cgenus\u201d \u2014\u00a0Argument from genus<\/em>
\nS. Genus<\/a>; Classification<\/a>; Definition<\/a>; a pari<\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a pari <\/em><\/td>\nLat. par<\/em>, \u201cequal, same\u201d \u2028\u2014\u00a0S.\u00a0a pari<\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a posteriori<\/em><\/td>\nLat. posterus<\/em>, \u201cwhich comes after\u201d \u2014S. A priori<\/em>; A posteriori<\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a priori<\/em><\/td>\nLat. prior<\/em>, \u201cthe first of two, superior\u201d \u2014 S. A priori; A posteriori<\/a><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a repugnantibus<\/em><\/td>\nLat. repugnans<\/em>, from repugnare<\/em> \u201ccontradictory; contrary; incompatible\u201d \u2014\u00a0S. A repugnantibus<\/em><\/a>; Opposites<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a rubrica<\/em><\/td>\nLat. rubrica<\/em>, \u201ctitle of the section (law)\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0S. Title<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a silentio<\/em><\/td>\nLat. silentium<\/em>, \u201csilence\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0S. Silence<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a simili<\/em><\/td>\nLat. similis<\/em>, \u201cresembling, similar\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0S. Analogy<\/a>;\u00a0a pari<\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab absurdo
\n<\/em>[or: ad absurdum<\/em>]<\/td>\n		Lat. absurdus<\/em>, \u201cabsurd\u201d \u2014\u00a0S. Absurd.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab adjunctis<\/em><\/td>\nLat. adjuncta<\/em>, \u201cattached to\u201d \u2014\u00a0argumenta ex adjunctis ducta<\/em>, arg. from circumstances \u2014\u00a0S. Circumstances<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab antecedentibus<\/em><\/td>\nLat. antecedens<\/em>, \u201cpreceding\u201d \u2014\u00a0S. Circumstances<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab consequentibus<\/em><\/td>\nLat. consequens<\/em>, \u201cfollowing\u201d \u2014 S. Circumstances<\/a>; Consequences.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab auctoritate
\n<\/em>(or: \u2028ad auctoritatem<\/em>)<\/td>\n		Lat. auctoritas<\/em>, \u201cauthority\u201d \u2014 S. Authority<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab enumeratione
\npartium<\/em><\/td>\n		Lat. enumeratio<\/em> \u201cenumeration\u201d; pars<\/em>, \u201cpart\u201d
\narg. from enumeration of parts<\/em>
\nS. Composition \u2014 Division<\/a>;<\/span><\/span> Case-by-case<\/a>; Definition<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab exemplo<\/em><\/td>\nLat. exemplum<\/em> \u201cexample\u201d S. Example<\/a>; Exemplum<\/em><\/a>; Precedent<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab inutilitate<\/em><\/td>\nLat. inutilitas<\/em>, \u201cuseless, dangerous\u201d \u2014 S. Superfluity<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ab utili<\/em><\/td>\nLat. utilitas<\/em>, \u201cuseful, beneficial\u201d \u2014 S. Pragmatic argument<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The a <\/em>\/ ab<\/em> arguments constitute the original stock of arguments<\/span> whose core is taken from Cicero’s typology,<\/strong> S. Collection (2). From Aristotle to Boethius<\/a><\/p>\n

Unlike the ad<\/em> \u00a0arguments, these labels never refer to emotions or subjective beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ad<\/em> arguments are clearly arguments and not fallacies. In other words, when using the label \u201cad<\/em> + N\u201d argument we take the perspective of the proponent, who produces and presents the argument, rather than the opponent impacted by the argument.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A \/ Ab \u2013 arguments, e.g. \u00ab\u00a0A contrario\u00ab\u00a0 arg. Some argument schemes are designated by Latin labels, see Ab\u00a0\u2014;\u00a0Ad\u00a0\u2014; Ex\u00a0\u2014. This entry lists the labels using the Latin preposition a \/ ab. The same Latin preposition has two forms, a or ab: in general, a is used before a noun beginning with a consonant (a […]<\/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-4524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4524","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=4524"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14648,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4524\/revisions\/14648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}