The implicit dimension of enthymemes is investigated from a pragmatic perspective to show why a premise can be left unexpressed, and how it can be used strategically. The relationship between the implicit act of taking for granted and the pattern of presumptive reasoning is shown to be the cornerstone of kairos and the fallacy of straw man. By taking a proposition for granted, the speaker shifts the burden of proving its un-acceptability onto the hearer. The resemblance of the tacit premise (...) with what is commonly acceptable or has been actually stated can be used as a rhetorical strategy. (shrink)

The Holy Scriptures can be considered a specific kind of normative texts, whose use to assess practical moral cases requires interpretation. In the field of ethics, this interpretative problem results in the necessity of bridging the gap between the normative source – moral precepts – and the specific cases. In the history of the Church, this problem was the core of the so-called casuistry, namely the decision-making practice consisting in applying the Commandments and other principles of the Holy Scriptures to (...) specific cases or moral problems. By taking into account the sin of lying, this paper argues that casuistic texts reveal an extremely sophisticated interpretative method, grounded on “pragmatic” contextual and communicative considerations and argumentative structures that resemble the ones used in legal interpretation. These works show how the underspecified biblical text expressing an abstract norm was enriched pragmatically by completing it and modulating its meaning so that it could be used to draw a conclusion in a specific context on a specific case. The mutual interdependence between biblical interpretation, pragmatics, and argumentation sheds light on a much broader phenomenon, namely the pragmatic nature of argumentation. (shrink)

The chapter analyzes some examples taken from the different versions of the beehive allegory in political history and political literature, with the aim of exploring the relevance of cognitive and persuasive aspects in this political metaphor. Starting from the Ricœurian theory of metaphor, the analysis of this particular example aims to show, ultimately, a characteristically rhetorical use of metaphorical language. Considering its structure, a metaphor such as the beehive metaphor appears to be fundamentally based on an analogical process hiding a (...) re-description, ultimately based on an argumentative foundation–in this case, on the naturalistic argument. In this sense, this particular political metaphor seems to be persuasive precisely because of its ambiguity and its relative obscurity. Finally, I suggest that the effectiveness of this metaphor in the political field is based on an implicit argumentative structure that has a fundamentally persuasive and strategic purpose, to which any cognitive dimension is subjected. (shrink)

The chapter analyzes some examples taken from the different versions of the beehive allegory in political history and political literature, with the aim of exploring the relevance of cognitive and persuasive aspects in this political metaphor. Starting from the Ricœurian theory of metaphor, the analysis of this particular example aims to show, ultimately, a characteristically rhetorical use of metaphorical language. Considering its structure, a metaphor such as the beehive metaphor appears to be fundamentally based on an analogical process hiding a (...) re-description, ultimately based on an argumentative foundation–in this case, on the naturalistic argument. In this sense, this particular political metaphor seems to be persuasive precisely because of its ambiguity and its relative obscurity. Finally, I suggest that the effectiveness of this metaphor in the political field is based on an implicit argumentative structure that has a fundamentally persuasive and strategic purpose, to which any cognitive dimension is subjected. (shrink)