The example that never actually happened

Original practice source: a commentary about invented examples.

An imagined example can make a difficult idea easier to examine. Its conditions can be stated clearly, allowing people to ask what follows without first needing the history of a real case. It is useful partly because the speaker controls the arrangement.

That control is also a limitation. Imagined people may behave exactly as an argument requires, while a real situation contains details which resist the neat conclusion. An example should be labelled honestly and used for the question it can answer. Showing that an outcome is possible in a constructed case does not establish how often it happens outside it.

A national newspaper is running an essay competition on the statement: “An invented example is just as useful as a real one.”

Write an essay for the competition arguing your view. You may use ideas from the source and your own ideas.