While in power claims, the argument of force is applied; in validity claims, the force of an argument prevails.

The use of the same word in everyday language (the force of circumstance, gale-force-winds, the force of an argument, etc.) is imprecise just because the corresponding theories are multifarious and imprecise.

He had been firmly of the position that Catholicism and its claims were both false and treasonable, however, while visiting a Catholic friend, he began casually flicking through a book of theology and was struck by the force of an argument he read there.

We have to use pure persuasion and force of argument.

The father refutes the son's objections by force of argument.

But the case for "just history" cannot rest on mere plausibility or force of argument.

The Venusian murderer not to have seen the force of arguments.

We prefer the force of argument to the argument of force.

In a house where the littlest statement automatically marshaled crushing forces of argument against itself, she had learned to be silent.

The award honors the eloquence, force of argument, and succinctness with which the writer presents his or her views.

It is a great honour for me to participate in this Parliament, where we have replaced the force of arms with the force of argument.

"The loudest voices have won, not through force of argument but through bullying, threatening and name-calling."

His error does me no injury, and shall I become a Don Quixote, to bring all men by force of argument to one opinion?

These backyards have armies of homeowners, navies of noise and an air force of arguments as their defense system.

If Mr. Levy, a corporate lawyer, is able to make progress, his supporters said, it will be through sheer intellect and force of argument.

It is a non-violent organization with the motto "The force of argument, not the argument of force."

"Once again, he has tried to solve his problems not with the force of argument, but with the argument of brute force."

He later proceeded to Oxford where he became an extremely scholarly philosopher and theologian, devoted to bringing heretics back to orthodoxy by force of argument.

Charles listened with grudging admiration as Raymond's intellectual grasp and force of argument easily compensated for his lack of oratorial skill.

The associated form of action here is one in which actors work jointly to understand each other, and to influence each other purely by the force of argument.

We are coming closer to the day when disputes that were once inflamed by the argument of force will now be settled by the force of argument."

LEAD: "I have to emphasize that for the first time we have talked to each other using the force of arguments, and not arguments of force.

The words are acute and carefully framed, a pleasure to hear, yet after effortlessly winning all the exchanges, More is finally borne down by sheer power, not by the force of argument.

Only then might the extremists be moved aside and the moderates be brought together by an honest broker in a political process in which the arguments of force give way to the force of arguments.

Mr. Mkapa also thought it "not implausible that if a new world order emerges" from the gulf war and the collapse of Communism, "it will be based on respect for the force of might rather than the force of argument."

Most recently, Smiley's professional standing was marked by the publication of The Force of Argument: Essays in Honor of Timothy Smiley (T. J. Smiley, Jonathan Lear and Alex Oliver, Routledge, 2010.)

And finally the challenge of ending instability in the Balkans so that these bitter ethnic problems are resolved by the force of argument, not the force of arms, so that future generations of Americans do not have to cross the Atlantic to fight another terrible war.

And, scornfully ignoring their insults, he had to go on patiently trying to convince them by force of argument that, seen in the wide perspective, everything was proceeding just as it should, industry was flourishing, agriculture was prospering, science and culture were blossoming forth as never before.