Aetiologia

__//Aetiologia//__


 * D** **efinition::** Aetiologia is a way of reasoning in which one attributes a cause for a claim or statement, often a simple relative cause of explanation.


 * Origin::** Greek term


 * See also::** logos

Definition taken from (rhetoric.byu.edu).


 * Examples** from text:

1) In the 1968 sitcom "All in the Family" the show centers around the changing society of America, the generation gap, and how the two collide. In the pilot episode "Meet the Bunkers," the viewers meet Mike and Gloria, the son-in-law and daughter of Archie and Edith. Archie is a conservative war veteran who has very strong opinions about the changes in America, and Mike is a passionate liberal who wants Archie to see the world the he feels the rest of society does. The episode raises issues of racism and prejudice as the two battle out their differing opinions.


 * An example is when Archie refers to black people as "Black Beauties." Mike sees this as an offensive term but Archie insists that he says that only because he saw a bumper sticker on the back of a black person's car that said "Black is Beautiful."

2) In //The Adventure of the Red-Headed League// by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is summoned by a man named Wilson, who has a case for Holmes to solve. The main issue at hand is that Wilson came to work to find a sign on his door that said that the Red-Headed League had been dissolved. Wilson has just recently gotten a job due to his flaming red hair, however he cannot understand what the "red-headed league" is and why it has been dissolved.


 * Upon meeting Wilson, Holmes promptly states that Wilson has "at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else" (Doyle 2). Wilson is perplexed, given he has not yet spoken to Holmes. When Wilson questions how Holmes knew that, Holmes responds by saying "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed...What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the elbow where you rest it upon the desk...[[image:redhead.jpg align="right"]]The fish which you have tattooed immediately aboveyour right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small study of tattoo marks, and have even contributed to the literature of the subject.That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a delicatepink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple" (Doyle 2). Holmes makes claims for his earlier statement, therefore making this an example of aetiologia.

(EM)