PERIODIC TABLE OF ARGUMENTS

By Jean Wagemans — Last updated on August 22, 2025

Argumentum a minore

His neighbour must have been beaten by him because his own father was beaten by him.

The subjects are different and the predicates are the same, so the argument form is beta (a is X because b is X): “His neighbour (a) must have been beaten by him (X) because even his father (b) was beaten by him (Y)”.

Both the conclusion and the premise are singular statements (s), so the argument substance is su: “His neighbour must have been beaten by him (s) because even his father was beaten by him (s)”.

The keyword MORE RECEPTIVE describes the relationship between subjects a and b. The argument lever can thus be formulated as “His neighbour (a) is MORE RECEPTIVE than his father (b)”.

Other examples

Einstein can solve this equation because even I can solve it.

Notes

Like with the argumentum a maiore, one could argue this is an alpha form argument. The reconstruction would then go something like this: “He (a) has beaten his neighbour (X) because he (a) has beaten his father (Y)” and “having beaten his father (Y) is LESS PROBABLE than having beaten his neighbour (X)”. And the other example can be reconstructed as an alpha argument as follows: “Solving this equation (a) can be done by Einstein (X) because solving this equation (a) can be done by me (Y)” and “can be done by me (Y) is LESS PROBABLE than can be done by Einstein (X)”.