premisy

Premisy is a neologism used in some discussions of argumentation and decision theory to denote a provisional or preparatory premise that frames and tests subsequent reasoning. It is distinguished from a firm premise by its tentative status and by its role as a testable condition rather than a fixed component of the conclusion. The term is not widely standardized and appears mainly in theoretical discussions, commentaries, and some rhetoric-focused writings from the 2000s onward.

Origin and usage: The word blends "pre-" with a form reminiscent of "premise," signaling a precondition rather than a final proposition. It has sometimes been used to emphasize the staged nature of reasoning in complex arguments or policy debates.

Definition and scope: A premisy is typically an assumption or condition whose validity is critical to the argument's flow. It is intended to be explicitly identified, tested, and possibly retracted. Example: In evaluating a policy, the premisy is that demand remains stable; if demand fluctuates, the forecasted benefits may not materialize.

Relation to premises, hypotheses, and presuppositions: The premisy differs from a standard premise in its provisional status. It overlaps with hypotheses and presuppositions but is framed as a deliberately testable precursor to a conclusion. Reception: Some logicians view premisy as clarifying but nonstandard; others see it as potentially confusing and redundant.

See also: Premise, Hypothesis, Presupposition, Conditional, Argumentation theory.