PERIODIC TABLE OF ARGUMENTS

By Jean Wagemans — Last updated on August 26, 2026

Argument from reciprocity

You argue that one party should treat a second party in a certain way because the second party treated the first that way. The argument works on the rule that what is received should be returned: the earlier act creates a debt, and the debt is offered as the reason for the act now being asked for. It can be attacked by denying that the earlier act was owed anything in return, or by showing that the debt has already been paid.

Tile for the argument from reciprocity (R)

Example

You should back Maria’s proposal, because she backed yours.

Standardised form

You (a) should back the other party’s proposal (X) because Maria (b) backed the other party’s proposal (X).

Transformations applied: anaphora resolved — “she” replaced by “Maria”; the two predicates normalised to the shared predicate “back the other party’s proposal”.

Triadic structure of the argument from reciprocity example: conclusion, premise and lever

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 one specific person (s) and the premise about one specific person (s), so the argument substance is ss.

The keyword OWES RECIPROCITY describes the relationship between subjects a and b. The argument lever can thus be formulated as “You (a) OWE RECIPROCITY to Maria (b)”.

Not to be confused with

  • Argument from equality — The two parties are to be treated alike by some third party or rule; here the parties are to treat each other alike. EQUAL
  • Argument from analogy — The two cases are held to be alike in a relevant respect; here they are not alike but in debt to one another. ANALOGOUS
  • Argument from similarity — Both statements are statements of fact rather than a policy claim and a fact. F ← F

Source

Invented example.

Notes

This is a proposed type that is not part of the current table of forty-two. It is the argumentative form of the norm of reciprocity studied in sociology and anthropology, and it underlies a large share of everyday bargaining. Under the current table it would be filed as an argument from equality, but the equality argument compares how two parties are treated, whereas this one turns on an exchange between them.