10/27/17
Quintilian, and J.S. Watson. Institutes of Oratory.Edited by Lee Honeycutt, 2010. Kindle Electronic Edition. Book V Chapter 13.
Quintilian continues discussing refutations. In the work of defense, refutation is in fact the entire task (Quintilian V.13.1). The content of refutation is parallel to that of affirmation, but it is not as closely related to emotional appeals (Quintilian V.13.2). The defender is in a difficult position due to the need to refute arguments the prosecution has worked out in advance (Quintilian V.13.3). Charges which pertain to the case must be denied, invalidated, or refuted (Quintilian V.13.7). On occasion Quintilian advocates addressing multiple charges at once (Quintilian V.13.11) while sometimes charges should be overthrown one at a time. Evident falsehoods may simply be denied (Quintilian V.13.15). Quintilian gives numerous examples.
For the most part, in actual refutations, it is necessary to find a discrepancy in the evidence presented (Quintilian V.13.23). This is fairly easy in questions of law as opposed to questions of history. Yet those events are also open to a variety of legal interpretations (Quintilian V.13.24). In refutations small points of sequence of actions or character assassination may provide openings to make an entire argument crumble (Quintilian V.13.27). gain, Quintilian cites examples of such refutations. In effective defenses, the defender will not be concerned with refuting every detail but only those which will actually overturn the whole prosecution (Quintilian V.13.36). As usual, Quintilian gives examples before a closing reminder that effective defense is most concerned with care for the defendant.