Argument from synonyms

Freedom of speech is important because being able to say what you want is crucial.

Both the subjects and the predicates are different, so the argument form is gamma (a is X because b is Y): “Freedom of speech (a) is important (X) because being able to say what you want (b) is crucial (Y)”.

The relationship between the subjects is identical to that between the predicates, so the substance is ‘i’.

The lever describes the semantic relationship between the subjects a and b and the predicates Y and X. The argument lever can thus be formulated as “being able to say what you want (b) is SYNONYMOUS to freedom of speech (a) and crucial (Y) is SYNONYMOUS to important (X)”.

Other examples

Notes

Many scholars consider this type of argument to be fallacious because the premise does not introduce any genuinely new or independent support for the conclusion. Instead, the premise merely restates the conclusion in a slightly different form, thereby failing to increase the conclusion’s acceptability or persuasiveness. Since the reasoning simply goes in a circle because it is assuming what it sets out to prove, this fallacy is traditionally referred to as petitio principii, or, more commonly, as “circular reasoning”.