The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from Silence
In this essay I propose an interpretative and explanatory structure for the so-called argumentum ex silento, or argument from silence (henceforth referred to as the AFS). To this end, I explore two examples, namely, Sherlock Holmes’s oft-quoted notice of the “curious incident of the dog in the night...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Windsor
2012-03-01
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| Series: | Informal Logic |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/3139 |
| _version_ | 1818543576791908352 |
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| author | Michael Gary Duncan |
| author_facet | Michael Gary Duncan |
| author_sort | Michael Gary Duncan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this essay I propose an interpretative and explanatory structure for the so-called argumentum ex silento, or argument from silence (henceforth referred to as the AFS). To this end, I explore two examples, namely, Sherlock Holmes’s oft-quoted notice of the “curious incident of the dog in the night-time” from Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story “Silver Blaze,” and the historical question of Paul of Tarsus’s silence on biographical details of the historical Jesus. Through these cases, I conclude that the AFS serves as a dialogical topos best evaluated and understood through the perceived authority of the arguer and the willingness of the audience to accept that authority, due to the “curious” nature of the negative evidence that the argument employed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:37:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b281851b3ce34a39be4d63ad525b554c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0824-2577 0824-2577 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:37:13Z |
| publishDate | 2012-03-01 |
| publisher | University of Windsor |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Informal Logic |
| spelling | doaj.art-b281851b3ce34a39be4d63ad525b554c2022-12-22T00:47:56ZengUniversity of WindsorInformal Logic0824-25770824-25772012-03-01321839710.22329/il.v32i1.31393031The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from SilenceMichael Gary Duncan0University of Houston-DowntownIn this essay I propose an interpretative and explanatory structure for the so-called argumentum ex silento, or argument from silence (henceforth referred to as the AFS). To this end, I explore two examples, namely, Sherlock Holmes’s oft-quoted notice of the “curious incident of the dog in the night-time” from Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story “Silver Blaze,” and the historical question of Paul of Tarsus’s silence on biographical details of the historical Jesus. Through these cases, I conclude that the AFS serves as a dialogical topos best evaluated and understood through the perceived authority of the arguer and the willingness of the audience to accept that authority, due to the “curious” nature of the negative evidence that the argument employed.https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/3139argument from silence, fallacy, rhetoric, dialectic, authority, expertise, acceptibility |
| spellingShingle | Michael Gary Duncan The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from Silence Informal Logic argument from silence, fallacy, rhetoric, dialectic, authority, expertise, acceptibility |
| title | The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from Silence |
| title_full | The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from Silence |
| title_fullStr | The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from Silence |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from Silence |
| title_short | The Curious Silence of the Dog and Paul of Tarsus; Revisiting The Argument from Silence |
| title_sort | curious silence of the dog and paul of tarsus revisiting the argument from silence |
| topic | argument from silence, fallacy, rhetoric, dialectic, authority, expertise, acceptibility |
| url | https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/3139 |
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