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Literary notes about conclusive (AI summary)

The term "conclusive" is frequently employed in literature to signify evidence or argument that decisively settles a matter. In narrative accounts and historical works, it is used to denote the kind of proof that leaves little room for doubt, as in descriptions where evidence “must necessarily be considered conclusive” ([1]) or when it “appears to be conclusive” in determining outcomes ([2], [3]). In philosophical and critical writings, authors often invoke the term to underscore the definitive nature of an argument or observation, as when a conclusion is described as the “conclusive point” of a discussion ([4], [5]) or when evidence, though persuasive, is noted as “not conclusive” ([6], [7]). Even in detective stories and analytical narratives, “conclusive” serves to mark the turning point in reasoning or proof ([8], [9]), highlighting its versatile role in clarifying truth and settling debate across genres.
  1. If my answers corresponded with the statements given him, the evidence must necessarily be considered conclusive.
    — from Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
  2. The evidence in this case of the direct action of the pollen of one species on the colour of the seeds of another species appears to me conclusive.
    — from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  3. This last argument seems conclusive; see especially the corresponding thanksgiving in 1 Thess.
    — from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon by J. B. Lightfoot
  4. This is, to my mind, the conclusive reason for saying that the order of presentation of the mind's materials is due to cerebral physiology alone.
    — from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James
  5. The argument under the present head may be put into a very concise form, which appears altogether conclusive.
    — from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and James Madison
  6. The evidence is strong, though not conclusive.
    — from The Devil is an Ass by Ben Jonson
  7. The second witness is Wellington; although his evidence is, apparently, not so conclusive.
    — from The Art of War by baron de Antoine Henri Jomini
  8. “I hardly consider that a conclusive proof.
    — from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  9. The point about the signature is very suggestive—in fact, we may call it conclusive.” “Of what?”
    — from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

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