Dictionary:
co·gent (kō'jənt)  |
Appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning; convincing: a cogent argument. See synonyms at valid.
[Latin cōgēns, cōgent-, present participle of cōgere, to force : co-, co- + agere, to drive.]
cogency co'gen·cy (-jən-sē) n.| 5min Related Video: cogent |
| Thesaurus: cogent |
adjective
| Antonyms: cogency |
Definition: effectiveness
Antonyms: impotence, ineffectiveness, invalidity, weakness
| Law Dictionary: Cogent |
Appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; compelling; convincing. The word is frequently used to describe the quality of a particular legal argument. It is derived from the Latin "cogo," "cogere," which means "to bind, drive or compress into a mass." See Oxford Latin Dictionary, Fascicle 11, p. 347. "A forcible argument tells strongly, but may not convince; cogent reasoning is more apt to be conclusive or to compel assent." 22 N.W. 2d 218, 219.
| Word Tutor: cogent |
The leader made some very cogent remarks about the continuing decline.
| Wikipedia: Cogency |
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This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009) |
An argument is cogent if and only if the truth of the argument's premises would render the truth of the conclusion probable (i.e., the argument is strong), and the argument's premises are, in fact, true. Cogency can be considered inductive logic's analogue to deductive logic's "soundness." As an example, consider the following.
The truth of the premises would, indeed, make the conclusion probable. Therefore, this argument is strong. If the premises are, in fact, true, then the argument is also cogent.
There is no standard of how likely an event must be for it to be called "probable." Just as there are degrees of probability, one can also speak of degrees of cogency. The degree of an argument's cogency, then, is a function of the argument's strength. In the above example, Lauren pulling out a 96th marble that turns out to be red would make the conclusion even more likely, and therefore the argument stronger. Note that this feature of cogency is a disanalogy from deductive logic's "validity," since a deductive argument can be either valid or invalid and nothing in between.
For an argument to qualify as a good argument, it is necessary that the argument be sound or cogent. But soundness or cogency need not be sufficient for a good argument. For example, a circular argument can be a sound argument, but it is certainly not good. Similarly, a cogent argument might nonetheless beg the question. In order for a cogent argument to be a good argument, the premises of the argument would have to satisfy additional conditions, such as being acceptable in the context of discussion, and being relevant to the conclusion.
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| Translations: Cogent |
Dansk (Danish)
adj. - overbevisende
Nederlands (Dutch)
overtuigend
Français (French)
adj. - convaincant
Deutsch (German)
adj. - überzeugend, stichhaltig
Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - (για επιχειρήματα κ.λπ.) αδιαφιλονίκητος, ακαταμάχητος, αδιάσειστος, πειστικός
Italiano (Italian)
convincente, persuasivo
Português (Portuguese)
adj. - convincente
Русский (Russian)
убедительный
Español (Spanish)
adj. - fuerte, convincente, poderoso
Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - bindande, kraftig
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
使人首肯的, 切实的, 使人信服的
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 使人首肯的, 切實的, 使人信服的
العربيه (Arabic)
(صفه) مقنع, قاطع
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - משכנע, כבד-משקל
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Law Dictionary. Law Dictionary. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cogency". Read more |
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