{"id":5131,"date":"2021-10-21T15:02:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T13:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/?p=5131"},"modified":"2025-06-08T07:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T05:56:29","slug":"matter-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/matter-e\/","title":{"rendered":"MATTER: Arg. addressing the \u2014 of the discussion"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Argument TO THE MATTER<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>The argument <em>to the matter<\/em> is <em>on point. <\/em>It addresses the <em>relevant<\/em> facts and the <em>central issue<\/em> under discussion\u2013the <em>substance of the controversy<\/em><strong>,<\/strong> the <em>merits of the case<\/em>, the heart of the<em> matter.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For example, a discussion of the matter is avoided, when someone accused of <em>corruption and embezzlement of public funds<\/em> responds to the charge with a countercharge of <em>misogyny.<\/em> This classic argument substitutes a private and potentially shameful ulterior <a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/motives-and-reasons-e\/\">motive<\/a> for a public and honorable good reason.<br \/>\nIn this sense, an argument <em>to the matter<\/em> is quite different from an argument <em>drawn from the <a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/subject-matter-of-the-law\/\">subject<\/a><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/subject-matter-of-the-law\/\"><em> matter of the law<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Like the <em>ad judicium<\/em> and <em>ad rem<\/em> arguments, arguments<em> to the matter<\/em> under discussion are not argumentative schemes\u2014 that is, they are not recognizable forms of reasoning that lead to a conclusion, such as the argument by analogy or by opposites. Each argument scheme may or may not be used to discuss what is the substance of an issue.<\/p>\n<p>The three labels <span style=\"background-color: #ffff99;\"><em>ad rem,<\/em> <em>ad judicium<\/em> and <em>to the matter<\/em><\/span> could be taken absolutely, in the Lockian style, to refer to arguments that produce knowledge of natural objects by the scientific method, see <em><a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/ad-judicium\/\">ad judicium<\/a><\/em>.<br \/>\nFor the global opposition ad judicium &#8211; to the matter &#8211; ad rem\u00a0 \/ to the letter, see <a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/ad-judicium-eng\/\">a<\/a><em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">d judicium.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 12pt;\">1. Argument to the matter and validity<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Saying that an argument is to the matter means that it is <em>relevant<\/em> to the debate, and that it makes a substantial contribution to the discussion.<br \/>\nFrom the immanent evaluative perspective of the third parties, such arguments are the only ones whose strength and value are worth discussing and they should be mentioned in the argument map of the discussion.<br \/>\nHowever, this does not mean that they are automatically validated. For example, a party may cite a legitimate and relevant<em> precedent<\/em>. Nevertheless, this alleged precedent could be criticized and rejected, by an argument showing that it is not close enough to the actual facts. Even if this argument <em>on the matter<\/em> is ultimately declared irrelevant to the issue, it can still be noted as an interesting objection.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 12pt;\">2. Form and substance (matter) of the discussion<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Arguments concerning the substance of the discussion complement arguments concerning the <em>form of the discussion,\u00a0<\/em> which refer to the conditions under which the discussion takes place. These arguments concern the framework, procedures and rules by which the issue is addressed. For example, participants may object that they did not receive the necessary documents in time; or that there is no quorum.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #800000; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">3. Logos-based arguments and arguments to the matter<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Misleading associations might lead one to think that arguments related to <em>logos<\/em> are \u00ab\u00a0logical\u00a0\u00bb and therefore <em>objective<\/em>, related to the matter and substance of things. As objective arguments, then, logos-based arguments could be contrasted with subjective ethotic and pathemic arguments.<br \/>\nHowever, in everyday argumentation, however, ethotic and pathemic arguments, like <em>logos-based<\/em> arguments, exploit\u00a0<em>logos,<\/em> that is language and discourse. Most importantly, \u00ab\u00a0object\u00a0\u00bb can mean, first, any material or immaterial being, and second, the issue to be decided, as presented in an\u00a0 argumentative question.<br \/>\nArguments that refer to people, their values and their emotions are to the matter (<em>ad rem<\/em> and <em>ad judicium<\/em>) to the extent that they are relevant to the question. at hand. Recalling a person&rsquo;s past condemnations is not always irrelevant. Describing the state of emotional shock in which the victim was found, is relevant in court. The challenge lies in distinguishing between aspects of a person that are and are not relevant to the discussion and which are not. This process is particularly complicated when the people involved are parties to the dispute.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>4. Indirect Arguments, Peripheral Arguments,<br \/>\nArguments to the Matter <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><em>Indirect arguments<\/em><\/strong> such as arguments from the <a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/absurd-eng\/\">absurd<\/a><strong>,<\/strong> or from <a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/ignorance-e\/\">ignorance<\/a>, <em>may or may not be to the matter<\/em>, on point.<br \/>\nThe same is true of <strong><em>peripheral arguments<\/em><\/strong>, which exploit indices incidentally connected with the dmain action. For example, a peripheral argument about the person is on point if it is relevant to the discussion: <em>a witness saw him near the scene of the crime<\/em>; or not really so: <em>a witness says the suspect is a good friend of his<\/em>, see <a href=\"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/circumstances-e\/\">circumstances<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/carm.org\/dictionary-argumentum-ad-judicium\">http:\/\/carm.org\/dictionary-argumentum-ad-judicium<\/a> (20-09-13).<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Argument TO THE MATTER The argument to the matter is on point. It addresses the relevant facts and the central issue under discussion\u2013the substance of the controversy, the merits of the case, the heart of the matter.\u00a0 For example, a discussion of the matter is avoided, when someone accused of corruption and embezzlement of public [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131","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=5131"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14346,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131\/revisions\/14346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}