Professor Sen had built a seminar around rationalism. (rationalism: in this context reason-centered philosophy, philosophical reliance on reason) The premise for the evening was that careful reasoning could settle a question without a trip to the kitchen. (premise: assumption, proposition, presupposition) One tenet of his philosophy concerned the relation between thought and the senses. (tenet: principle, belief, doctrine; philosophy: outlook, system of thought, worldview) His cook was interested in a more immediate question. Where were the apples?
A skeptic doubted they had ever existed. (skeptic: doubter, questioner, inquirer) A sophist maintained that a tray containing only apple peel did contain apples in one sense. (sophist: casuist, specious reasoner, quibbler) This verbal ingenuity amused the guests but gave no insight into the missing dessert. (insight: understanding, perception, discernment) The cook thought it illogical to conclude from the peel alone that the whole tray had been eaten. (illogical: irrational, inconsistent, unreasonable) A sound inference would require another piece of evidence. (inference: deduction, conclusion, interpretation)
Sen stopped to cogitate. (cogitate: ponder, deliberate, reflect) A child's drawing on the fridge showed a windowsill, four apples and a bird. An exploratory visit established that the tray had been set outside to cool. (exploratory: investigative, probing, investigatory) Even the skeptic had two helpings. The cook kept the drawing as a contribution to the next seminar on cognition. (cognition: thought, thinking, mental processing)