ENTER OLOGY

(Gr.) A treatise on the bowels. ENTHYMEME (Gr. jv, and ^vfjuof, mind; something understood in the mind and not expre ed), in Logic, is commonly defined to be an argument having one premi expre ed, the other understood. {See Logic, Syllogism.) This is the character under which the universal form of reasoning, or syllogism, generally presents itself in connected writing. For example, the following argument, if drawn out in the correct logical form, would stand thus, " All tyrants deserve death; but Caesar is a tyrant, therefore Csesar deserves death." But in the rapid diction of oratory, or poetry, it would probably be expre ed either, " All tyrants deserve death, therefore so does Caesar;" in which case the minor premi , "Caesar is a tyrant," is suppre ed: or, " Caesar is a tyrant, therefore he deserves death," by suppre ing the major premi . Instances may be cited in Avhich the enthymeme consists merely of one of the premi es expre ed, while both the other premi and the conclusion are to be supplied by a rapid exercise of thought. Thus in the well-known words, " But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man," the last of these propositions contains a complete argument, — " what honourable men say is to be believed: Brutus is an honourable man, therefore what Brutus says is to be believed." [s. 415]