• Cogency

    Full definition of cogency

    Noun

    cogency

    (plural cogencies)
    1. The state of being cogent; the characteristic or quality of being reasonable and persuasive.
      • 1781, Samuel_Johnson, "Addison," in Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets, J. Nichols (London), vol. 5, page 156:All the enchantment of fancy, and all the cogency of argument, are employed to recommend to the reader his real interest.
      • 1928, Richard_McKeon, "Thomas Aquinas' Doctrine of Knowledge and Its Historical Setting," Speculum, vol. 3, no. 4 (Oct), page 444:A philosophic study of the development of philosophies should be content to seek out the bases and cogencies of philosophies rather than engage upon a nostalgic search for sympathetic doctrines.
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