You support a claim about a whole class of things by producing a single member of it. The argument works by asking one case to stand in for all: this regime was dangerous, so dictatorships are dangerous. It can be attacked by showing that the case is not typical, since a single striking instance is a thin basis for a claim about every member of the class.
Example
Dictatorships are dangerous because Hitler’s regime was dangerous
Standardised form
Dictatorships (a) are dangerous (X) because Hitler’s regime (b) was dangerous (X).
Transformations applied: none — the example is already in canonical form.
Classification
The subjects differ and the predicate is the same, so the argument form is beta (a is X because b is X).
The conclusion is about all dictatorships (u) and the premise about one specific regime (s), so the argument substance is us.
The keyword AN EXAMPLE OF describes the relationship between subjects a and b. The argument lever can thus be formulated as “Hitler’s regime (b) is an EXAMPLE of dictatorships (a)”.
Not to be confused with
- Argument from species — The premise is a kind within the class, covering some of its members, not one individual case.
up - Argument from totality — Runs the other way, from the whole class down to one case.
su - Argument from analogy — Both halves are about single cases of the same rank, with no class relation between them.
ss
Source
Source not yet recorded.
Notes
Apart from beta form arguments with substance us, those with substance up or ps also fit the scheme, as the scope of the conclusion is broader than that of the premise. A beta form argument with substance us, up or ps that has statements of fact (F) as its conclusion and premise can also be called an argument from species.
PERIODIC TABLE OF ARGUMENTS 