E. M. Cope, Commentary on the Rhetoric of Aristotle

πιθανόν] ‘plausible’, that which readily persuades; πιστόν, ‘credible’, that which is to be relied on; the latter represents the higher degree of trustworthiness. διὰ τοιούτων, πιθανῶν καὶ πιστῶν.

The connexion of the argument of this section is given in the paraphrase, Introduction p. 155.

Art and science deal with universals, art prescribes rules for classes, not individuals; practice, ἐμπειρία, follows the opposite method. Rhet. II 19, 27, τὸ δὲ παρὰ ταῦτά τι ζητεῖν περὶ μεγέθους ἁπλῶς καὶ ὑπεροχῆς κενολογεῖν ἐστίν: κυριώτερα γάρ ἐστι πρὸς τὴν χρείαν (for use or practice) τὰ καθ᾽ ἕκαστα τῶν πραγμάτων. Eth. Nic. VI 12, 1143 a 32, ἔστι δὲ τῶν καθ᾽ ἕκαστα καὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων πάντα τὰ πρακτά κ.τ.λ. Met. A 1, 981 a 12, πρὸς μὲν οὖν τὸ πράττειν ἐμπειρία τέχνης οὐδὲν δοκεῖ διαφέρειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπιτυγχάνοντας ὁρῶμεν τοὺς ἐμπείρους τῶν ἄνευ τῆς ἐμπειρίας λόγον ἐχόντων. αἴτιον δ᾽ ὅτι ἡ μὲν ἐμπειρία τῶν καθ̓ ἕκαστόν ἐστι γνῶσις, ἡ δὲ τέχνη τῶν καθόλου, αἱ δὲ πράξεις καὶ αἱ γενέσεις πᾶσαι περὶ τὸ καθ̓ ἕκαστόν εἰσιν.

καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνη συλλογίζεται οὐκ ἐξ ὧν ἔτυχεν κ.τ.λ.] Compare Top. A 10, 104 a 4, 11, 105 a 3—9, οὐ δεῖ δὲ πᾶν πρόβλημα οὐδὲ πᾶσαν θέσιν ἐπισκοπεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὴν ἀπορήσειεν ἄν τις τῶν λόγου δεομένων, καὶ μὴ κολάσεως ἢ αἰσθήσεως: οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀποροῦντες πότερον δεῖ τοὺς θεοὺς τιμᾷν καὶ τοὺς γονεῖς ἀγαπᾷν, ἢ οὔ, κολάσεως δέονται, οἱ δὲ πότερον ἡ χιὼν λευκὴ αἰσθήσεως, κ.τ.λ., and Eth. Eud. I 3, quoted in Introd. p. 156, note.

ἐξ ὧν ἔτυχεν] sc. ἐξ ἐκείνων ἃ ἔτυχεν: ‘any materials, or propositions taken at random, any chance propositions’. So Rhet. I 5, 11, διὰ τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν ὧν τὸ γῆρας γωβᾶται. On the attraction of the relative from its proper case after the verb to that of its antecedent, see Matth. Gr. Gr. § 473, and note on Rhet. I 5, 11.