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Wellsprings
rhetoric

Argument by Example

παράδειγμα

"Remember what happened last time": arguing from a parallel case is rhetoric's version of induction, the persuasive cousin of the logician's proof.

The *paradeigma* or argument by example is a rhetorical technique of persuasion through particular cases. Unlike logical induction in dialectic, which builds a universal rule from multiple instances, rhetorical example works more directly: it presents one or more concrete cases and invites the audience to recognize a similar pattern in the matter at hand. Aristotle treats it as a form of inductive reasoning distinct from the enthymeme, suited to audiences who grasp resemblance more readily than formal deduction.

In practice, an orator arguing that a treaty will be broken might cite historical precedents—how other rulers violated similar agreements in the past—without spelling out a logical chain. The listener perceives the likeness between those prior cases and the present situation and draws the conclusion themselves. This sideways reasoning, part-to-part and like-to-like within a common category, proved especially effective in court and assembly speeches where emotional conviction mattered as much as abstract proof.

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30 Greek sources

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