An argument is a justificatory structure consisting of premises and a conclusion: from statements asserted as true (premises), a further statement (the conclusion) is logically derived.
In the debate over the concept of person, arguments appear in syllogistic form: every syllogism consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. The arguments of the individual thinkers are made visible in the argument map.
Relations
Arguments stand to one another in three relations:
- supports — an argument provides an additional justification for another
- refutes — an argument shows the untenability of another
- presupposes — an argument can hold only if another already holds
Every argument supports a particular concept of person.
Argument and Objection
An objection is directed not against a single argument but against an entire concept of person. It shows that the position as such is untenable — regardless of how many arguments support it.
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology. Bexten 2017, chs. 2—3 (syllogistic structure of the arguments in the debate over the concept of person).
Further sources:
- Aristotle: Prior Analytics. In: The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. Jonathan Barnes, transl. A. J. Jenkinson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
- Patzig, Günther (1968): Aristotle’s Theory of the Syllogism, transl. Jonathan Barnes. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.