Linguistic

Enthymeme

What it is

A syllogism with one premise left unstated, allowing the audience to fill in the gap and thereby persuade themselves.

How it works

By leaving one premise implicit, the speaker invites the audience to supply it themselves. "She's a mother, so she understands sacrifice." The unstated premise (all mothers understand sacrifice) is never examined because the audience supplies and endorses it internally. People are more persuaded by conclusions they reach themselves than by conclusions handed to them.

Real-world examples

  • •"He's a veteran, so you can trust him" — unstated: all veterans are trustworthy.
  • •"This product is natural, so it's safe" — unstated: all natural things are safe.
  • •"She went to Harvard, so she's brilliant" — unstated: all Harvard graduates are brilliant.

Ethical guidelines

  • ●Enthymemes exploit cognitive laziness — the audience doesn't examine the premise they supply.
  • ●The unstated premise is often the weakest part of the argument.
  • ●Ethical persuasion makes all premises explicit and available for examination.

How to defend against it

  • ►When a conclusion seems obvious, ask: "What unstated assumption am I accepting to reach this conclusion?"
  • ►Make implicit premises explicit and evaluate them: "Is it actually true that all X are Y?"
  • ►The more "obvious" a conclusion feels, the more likely an enthymeme is at work.

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