(philosophy, linguistics) Explanation and analysis—often considered controversial—of one or more concepts or linguistic terms by means of an exposition of their linguistic origins.

Acting against an argument given; intending to counter an argument.

plural of argument form

(philosophy) An argument in favour of a right to abortion that appeals to a thought experiment in which a person with a rare blood type is kidnapped and plugged into a famous unconscious violinist with a fatal kidney ailment; if the violinist is unplugged, he will die, but if he stays plugged into the kidnappee for nine months, he will recover from his ailment. The argument assumes that in this hypothetical scenario, the kidnappee has the right to unplug themselves from the violinist at any time even if this will cause his death, because the violinist does not have a right to the kidnappee’s body.

(logic) Alternative form of argument form

plural of argument-form

plural of circular argument

(law) In adversarial legal systems, a statement made by either party at the beginning of a trial or comparable factfinding proceeding, in which that party lays out their case, generally including the points of fact that they intend to demonstrate and to some degree indicating the rhetorical arguments for why they should prevail.

plural of opening argument

To believe an opinion has enough justification to sustain a debate about it, whether or not the opinion is ultimately true.