#argumentation

• In a lawyerly manner — An archaic and regional form of the adverb 'avocățește' (lawyerly / in a lawyer-like manner), meaning in the manner or style characteristic of a lawyer. It describes how a person supports their view in a debate, using precise arguments, language loopholes, or logical subtleties.
• Antanagoge — A rhetorical figure or argumentative strategy consisting of counterbalancing a weak point, a defect, or an inevitable criticism by immediately placing a strong argument, a quality, or a compensatory benefit. This structural mechanism is used to reduce the negative impact of a statement, softening the reproach or objection through semantic compensation.
• Antiparastasis — A figure of speech and rhetorical argumentative device whereby an orator or writer does not deny the deed or accusation brought against them, but fully admits it, demonstrating instead that the action was legitimate, useful, praiseworthy, or absolutely necessary under the given circumstances. This structural strategy shifts the focus from guilt to the collateral benefits or the higher morality of the pursued goal.
• Antiperistasis — A figure of speech or ancient philosophical and physical principle whereby a quality or force is intensified and amplified through the direct action of a contrary force surrounding or repelling it. In a rhetorical sense, it represents an argumentative device through which an objection raised by an opponent is transformed into a powerful argument in favor of one's own thesis, enhancing its structural impact.
• Apagogy — A form of indirect proof through which the truth of a thesis is established by proving the falsity of the contradictory thesis (reduction to absurdity). This inverse structural process consists of provisionally accepting the opposite of the statement we want to prove, then showing that this assumption leads to logically unacceptable, absurd, or impossible consequences.
• Apodioxis — A rhetorical figure of speech and argumentative strategy whereby a speaker indignantly, ironically, or scornfully rejects an opponent's statement or objection, deeming it completely absurd, irrelevant, or unworthy of a serious answer; rejection through dismissal. Its purpose is to invalidate the opponent's position from the outset before the audience by appealing to its obvious absurdity.
• Apodioxis — A scholarly and international form for the rhetorical figure whereby a speaker rejects an objection as completely absurd, impertinent, or irrelevant; the conscious act of disqualifying an opponent's position through an indignant or mocking refusal. In classical oratory treatises, it represents a tool for manipulating audience attention, invalidating the logical validity of the argument by attacking its relevance.
• Apophasis — Linguistic adaptation of the Greek term apophasis, representing a figure of speech and a discursive tactic whereby the speaker highlights a topic while paradoxically claiming to pass it over in silence or refusing to discuss it. This technique emphasizes the importance of the omitted detail precisely by simulating a refusal to analyze it, functioning as a subtle form of preterition.
• To champion a cause — To make an apologia for something, a doctrine, or a person; to praise excessively, to defend systematically, or to seek justifications designed to rehabilitate a controversial cause. The technical meaning describes the discursive act of building a structured defensive argumentation, setting aside objective critical spirit to protect an ideology's validity.
• Argumentation — The act of arguing and its result; the totality of arguments brought in support of a thesis, opinion, or demonstration; a complex logical-rhetorical process through which a speaker or author selects, organizes, and presents evidence, facts, reasoning, and valid premises with the goal of demonstrating the truth or falsity of a proposition and convincing, persuading, or influencing the audience or dialogue partner. In an academic sense, it represents the fundamental discursive structure in scientific research, essay writing, and legal debate.