Argumentum a fortiori

Argumentum a fortiori (UK: /ˈɑː fɔːrtiˈoʊri/, US: /ˈeɪ fɔːrʃiˈɔːraɪ/; Latin: 'from a/the stronger ') is a form of argumentation that draws upon existing confidence in a proposition to argue in favor of a second proposition that is held to be implicit in the first. The second proposition may be considered weaker, and therefore the arguer utilizes the former as the stronger proposition from which the second proposition is deduced. Argumentum a fortiori (UK: /ˈɑː fɔːrtiˈoʊri/, US: /ˈeɪ fɔːrʃiˈɔːraɪ/; Latin: 'from a/the stronger ') is a form of argumentation that draws upon existing confidence in a proposition to argue in favor of a second proposition that is held to be implicit in the first. The second proposition may be considered weaker, and therefore the arguer utilizes the former as the stronger proposition from which the second proposition is deduced. In the English language, the phrase a fortiori is most often used as an adverbial phrase meaning 'by even greater force of logic' or 'all the more so'. In Garner's Modern American Usage , Bryan A. Garner explained writers sometimes use a fortiori as an adjective as in 'a usage to be resisted.' Garner provides this example:'Clearly, if laws depend so heavily on public acquiescence, the case of conventions is an a fortiori one.' A fortiori arguments are regularly used in Jewish law under the name kal va-chomer, literally 'mild and severe', the mild case being the one we know about, while trying to infer about the more severe case. In ancient Indian logic (nyaya), an inference derived from an a fortiori postulation is known as kaimutika or kaimutya nyaya, from the words kim uta meaning 'even more so.' In Islamic jurisprudence, a fortiori arguments are proved utilising the methods used in qiyas (reasoning by analogy). In logic, a maiore ad minus describes a simple and obvious inference from a claim about a stronger entity, greater quantity, or general class to one about a weaker entity, smaller quantity, or specific member of that class: The reverse, less known and less frequently applicable argument is a minore ad maius, which denotes an inference from smaller to bigger.