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[22]
Most enthymemes are constructed from these
specific topics, which are called particular and special, fewer from those that
are common or universal. As then we have done in the Topics1, so here we must distinguish the specific and
universal topics, from which enthymemes may be constructed. By specific topics I
mean the propositions peculiar to each class of things, by universal those
common to all alike. Let us then first speak of the specific topics, but before
doing so let us ascertain the different kinds of Rhetoric, so that, having
determined their number, we may separately ascertain their elements and
propositions.2
1 Aristot. Sophist. Elenchi （Fallacies） 9. This treatise is really the ninth and concluding part of the Topics.
2 Propositions （or premises）, the name given to the two first statements in a syllogism from which the conclusion is drawn: All men are mortal （major premise）; Socrates is a man （minor premise）; therefore Socrates is mortal.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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