Argument

An argument is a set of claims in which reasons or evidence are offered to support a conclusion. Its strength depends on how well the support bears on that conclusion.

Premise: A claim offered as a reason or piece of evidence for another claim. Premises are the supporting claims from which an argument’s conclusion is drawn.
Validity: A property of deductive reasoning in which true premises guarantee a true conclusion. Validity tests whether an argument’s structure can preserve truth from premises to conclusion.
Explanation: An account of why or how something happens, or why a claim is true. An explanation clarifies a claim, while an argument gives reasons to establish it.
Formal logic: The study of valid inference using symbolic systems and formal languages. Formal logic analyzes argument structure independently of the subject matter.
Conclusion: A claim that follows from reasons, evidence, or prior steps in reasoning. An argument’s conclusion is the claim its premises are meant to support.
Soundness: The property of a valid deductive argument whose premises are all true. Soundness combines valid structure with premises that accurately describe the world.
Persuasion: Communication intended to change or reinforce a person’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions. Persuasion can use rhetoric without providing reasons that support a conclusion.
Scientific method: A set of practices for developing and testing knowledge through observation and experiment. Scientific conclusions depend on arguments linking evidence to hypotheses.
Inference: The process of deriving a claim from other claims or evidence. Inference connects an argument’s supporting claims to its conclusion.
Inductive reasoning: Reasoning that uses evidence to support a conclusion without guaranteeing it. Many arguments offer probable rather than conclusive support.

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