Identifying Reasons in Arguments

Structure of arguments: Reasons

Learning outcome:
Identifying reasons in arguments
Explain the way the reasons support the conclusions
Applying the language of reasoning Key terms
Conclusions, reasons, claims,
premises, independent
reasons, combined reasons

So far we have learned that….

Arguments are set of statements containing reasons supporting a conclusion.
Conclusions are the primary claims of arguments; the claims we are trying to get
others accept.
Reasons are the supporting claims. They support the conclusions.
So, both conclusions and reasons are types of claims.
Now, let us identify reasons in arguments and understand the different ways
they might support the conclusions.
Reasons are claims that intend to support the conclusions.
These claims are also called PREMISES
A premise is simply any

claim to put forward as
support for the
conclusions
It is very likely that in your previous assignments when you were asked to find
conclusions in arguments, you also located the reasons (also called premises) that
supported the conclusions. Hence, finding conclusions and reasons in arguments
are not totally separated tasks; we might say you need to recognize one of them
to locate the other.
The task of identifying premises is to find reasons that the author is giving us to
convince us that his conclusions is true ( valid, congruent, well sound, well
grounded, reliable, etc.).
Finding conclusions, reasons and other argument elements require a careful and
generous reading of what the author is saying. Here we will bring some tips to
do this more quickly and effectively
Improving your reading

speed and reading Remember that arguments can
comprehension skills will appear in speeches and the time for
definitely sharp up your
processing is significantly shorter.
critical thinking since you
will spend less time in
decoding symbols and more
in reasoning and evaluating
their validity. This is
specially
true in
debates
As we said, identifying reasons takes good reading speed and good reading
comprehension but here we will give you some guides to find the reasons of the
argument.
After you have found the main conclusion of the argument, you should:
1. Ask what the facts, data, information or accounts are given by writer or
speaker to support the conclusion.
2. Keep in mind that premises can be of any subject matter. They can be
controversial or unanimously agreed.
3. Be aware that in many writings or speeches, arguments can be embedded
with other types of language that are not relevant to the main issue of the
argument.
Let us see an example in the next slide.

4- As there are some words that act as conclusion indicators, there are also
some words that may precede reasons (but this is not a guaranteed). They can
be called “reasons indicators” and they mark the writer´s or speaker´s move
from reasons to conclusions or from conclusions to reasons. “Since”, “because”,
and “is implied by” are some common examples. The writer or speaker may say
these words after declaring the conclusion: My reasons is… My evidence for
this is…. This is so because…
Example:
Other reason indicators may be used at he beginning of a sentence containing

both the premises and the conclusion. For example:
We must be aware, though that word indicators (conclusion indicators and

premise indicators) can be used with other meanings as well.
The sentence “Since 2010, I have been a student at The Oxford School” does
not express a conclusion in an argument because “since” is used to refer to a
period of time.
“Because” can be particularly tricky as it is frequently used before
explanations. Remember that we said explanatory texts don't have the
purpose of persuading; arguments do.
Independent or dependent (combined) reasons
In arguments, reasons can support the conclusions independently from each other or they can combine forces
among themselves to support the conclusions. See these diagrams
Independent reasons Dependent (combined) reasons
Both combined and independent

reasons may appear in the argument
Let us see each instance closer:
A. The train doesn’t leave until 4.24, but it can take up to 40 minutes to get
to the station, if the traffic’s bad. It’s 3.30 now. We need to leave for the
station within ten minutes to be sure of catching the train.
In this argument we have three main reasons and one conclusion:
1. R1: The train leaves at 4.24.
2. R2: It can take 40 minutes to get to the station.
3. R3: It’s 3.30 now.
C : We need to set off within ten minutes to be sure of catching the train.
Questions : How do these reason operate to support the conclusion? Do they

support the conclusion independently or do they work together?
Tip: When two or more reasons work together, if one of them is not true or is
taken away, their support to the conclusion will weaken.
In [A] reasons 1, 2 and 3 work together. One needs to be true or to exist in
order to validate the effect of the other.
So, this is type argument.
B. Short-range flights may have become cheap, but rail travel makes a lot
more sense. Flying is responsible for ten times the carbon emissions of rail
travel per passenger/km, and twice as much stress. What is more, trains take
you to the heart of a city, not to some far-flung:
This argument has three premises and a conclusion. The premises are not
interdependent. Each of them gives a different line of reasoning to the
conclusion.
This is a argument
C. Rajinder cannot be trusted to keep a secret. He was the only person apart
from me who knew about Jed and Jill getting engaged. I haven’t said a word
to anyone, yet now the news is all round the college. And he spread another
story about Jill that I told him in confidence.
This a type argument. The first three reasons depend on

each other. Obviously, if I had told several people,
or if others had known besides Rajinder, it might not have been Rajinder who
was to be blamed; and if the news hadn’t spread there would be no reason to
suggest Rajinder had told anyone the secret. R4, on the other hand, does not
have to be true for the conclusion to follow from the other three. Therefore,
although R4 adds strength to the argument, it is separate from the other
reasons: an additional reason for inferring that Rajinder cannot be trusted.
It´s
It´s Certain Relevant
What makes a It´s It comes

pertinent from a
reason, a to the credible
good reason? concusion. source.
Does it
It fits well
require an
with our
expertise to
other beliefs.
validate?
Ask yourself…
What are claims?
What are premises?
What are some examples of reason indicators?
Are reason indicators always present in arguments?
In what ways are reasons and conclusions similar?
What makes a reason a “good reason”?
What is reading speed? In reading, what is the
difference between decoding and comprehension.

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Structure of arguments: Reasons

So far we have learned that….

A premise is simply any

Improving your reading

Let us see an example in the next slide.

Other reason indicators may be used at he beginning of a sentence containing

We must be aware, though that word indicators (conclusion indicators and

Independent reasons Dependent (combined) reasons

Both combined and independent

Questions : How do these reason operate to support the conclusion? Do they

This a type argument. The first three reasons depend on

What makes a It´s It comes

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