ABSTRACT
Examples are ubiquitous. Philosophers adduce examples to support their theories. Students learn from examples and display their learning by providing examples. If a student purports to understand a theory – be it Darwinism, socialism, consequentialism or whatever – but can provide no examples of how the theory applies, her claim is at least suspect. Why are examples important? A single example is, after all, statistically insignificant. So, it might seem, the ability to provide a single example should count for virtually nothing. But often it counts for a lot. The reason, I suggest, is that the example displays an understanding of the subject. It is not just an instance, it is a telling instance.
