Argument: reasons and what they support

Premises, conclusions and explanations

A reason can be worth considering without settling a question. This entry explains the vocabulary of argument used in lessons 1–2, so that we can ask what a reason establishes. The terms are useful tools; they do not prescribe a single form for all philosophical inquiry.

An argument offers reasons for accepting a claim. The reasons offered are its premises; the claim they are offered to support is its conclusion. Calling a claim a premise does not make it true, and in ordinary conversation some premises may be left unstated.

An argument and an explanation can sound alike while answering different questions. Are we giving someone grounds to believe that an event happened, or explaining why it happened when everyone already agrees that it did? The context helps us tell which task is at hand. [1]

The question to keep asking is “What does this reason actually support?” Lesson 2 distinguishes a true claim from a valid argument, one whose conclusion must be true if its premises are true. It also examines reasons that make a conclusion more likely without guaranteeing it.

Common confusion. Questioning someone’s argument need not be an attack on them. We can even agree with a conclusion while rejecting a particular reason offered for it; a criticism of that reason leaves the conclusion open to support in another way.

Source and scope

[1] Matthew McKeon, “Argument,” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, introduction and sections 1–2, for the terms defined above. This entry introduces a few useful terms; the source also discusses disagreements about what counts as an argument.