Institutio Oratoria
Quintilian
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.
There is another form of conclusion which is not actually identical with the major premise, but has the same force
Death is nothing to us, for that which is dissolved into its elements is devoid of' feeling, and that which is devoid of feeling is nothing to us.There is a third form in which the major premise and the conclusion are different.
All animate things are better than inanimate, but there is nothing better than the universe, wherefore the universe is animate.It may be thought that in this case there is no real major premise, since it would be possible to state the reasoning in the following form:
The universe is animate, for all things animate are better than inanimate,etcetera.
This major premise is either an admitted fact as in the last example or requires
He who wishes to live a happy life, must be a philosopher: for this is not an acknowledged truth, and the premises must be established before we can arrive at the conclusion. Sometimes again the minor premise is an admitted fact, as for instance,
But all men wish to live a happy life,while sometimes it requires to be proved, as for example the statement quoted above,
That which is dissolved into its elements is devoid of feeling,since it is doubtful whether the soul is immortal after its release from the body or only continues to exist for a time. Some call this a minor premise, some a reason.
There is no difference between the epicheireme and the syllogism, except that the latter has a number of forms and infers truth from truth, whereas the epicheireme is frequently concerned with statements that are no more than credible. For if it were always possible to prove controversial points from admitted premises, the orator would have little to do in this connexion.