Logic and Parables: Do These Narratives Provide Arguments?

Abstract

We explore the relationship between argument and narrative with reference to parables. Parables are typically thought to convey a message. In examining a parable, we can ask what that message is, whether the story told provides reasons for the message, and whether those reasons are good reasons. In exploring these questions, we employ as an inves-tigative technique the strategy of reconstructing parables as argu-ments. We then proceed to con-sider the cogency of those argu-ments. One can offer arguments through narratives and, in particu-lar, through parables, but that do-ing so likely brings more risks than benefits, from an epistemic point of view.

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