2.

Identifying reasons and

conclusions: the language of
reasoning
 In this chapter we learn:

• How to identify what reasoning is being presented

when someone is arguing a case, and

• How to present reasoning clearly ourselves.

 Deciding when reasoning is present
• Language is used for so many purposes besides trying
to persuade others of a point of view.
• For Example:
– We report events
– We describe things
– We tell stories
– We tell jokes
– We make promises
– We inform
• Do all these contain reasoning?
• It is not always easy to say what reasoning is being
used
• But, our familiarity with the language enables us to tell
what is going on
Find out which of the following passages
contains reasoning to a conclusion and
which do not
Question 2.1
• 2.1.1 James burst out of customs, diamonds
and expensive watches falling from his bag as
he ran. As he reached the taxi stand customers
were sitting in all of the waiting taxis. James
ran towards the nearest taxi and leaped into it
as it was beginning to move. He pointed a gun
at the driver and said just ‘downtown’. The
taxi turned towards the motorway. (Morton,
1988)
• Description, no reasoning contains
 2.1 Contd…
• 2.1.2 Recent research suggests that our understanding
of how clouds interact with sunlight might be wrong:
new measurements suggest that clouds absorb four
times as much energy as previously thought. Since
existing models of how the climate functions are based
on the original measurements, if the new measurements
are shown to be accurate models of how the climate
works will need to be completely overhauled. Climate
models are used in our attempts to measure global
warming so, if these climate models are shown to be
inaccurate, we will have to completely revise our
understanding of global warming.

• Reason indicators like since and so suggest that

reasoning is used.
 Contd…
• Many substantial environmental problems cannot be
solved by individual or local action, for example, the
pollution caused by automobile exhaust gases is a
world-wide problem, so such problems can only be
addressed by international actions.
• Gives reason for conclusion

• ‘Teachers teach to the test.’ This old slogan is very true,

so if examinations just require factual knowledge, this is
what will be taught and rote memorization will be all.
However, if the process and quality of thinking is
assessed, this is what will be taught. The only way to
deliver ‘thinking schools’ is to assess thinking skills and
dispositions directly.
• Gives reason for conclusion
 Contd…
• Above mentioned paragraphs are used for different
purpose

• and all the paragraphs do not have proper reasoning

used.

• The leading articles and letters to the editor will often

contain reasoning in support of a conclusion.

• Novels rarely contain much reasoning

• Parliamentary debates often contain reasoning, but also

contain abuse!
 Some simple examples of reasoning:
• Let us imagine a student, say Hans, who has just
completed a critical thinking course and has failed
the test which was set at the end of the course.
Imagine that he sends the following note to the
teacher:
Example 1
• That test was unfair. I studied for days, reading the
material four times, underlining important details
and then studying them. After doing all this I
should have got a good grade. That test was unfair.
 This question has four parts:
1. What is the conclusion of Hans’s argument? What
is he trying to persuade his teacher to accept?

2. What reasons does he give in support of his

conclusion?

3. Does he make any implicit assumptions? Does he

assume anything without actually saying it?

4. Finally, you might also like to say whether you

think it is a good or a bad argument.
Contd…
• It is clear that Hans is arguing that ‘the test was unfair’.
That is his conclusion.

• Conclusion stated two places for rhetorical reasons

(means highlighting his point).

• The clear implication of what Hans says is that

something should be done to rectify a wrong – and this
goes beyond what he actually says – so you might say
that this is his conclusion. (implied)

• His assumption is that “the work he did should have

been sufficient for a good grade” (explicit)
Contd…
• Moving on to what Hans’s reasons are for his
conclusion. He says, ‘I studied for days, reading the
material four times, understanding important details,
and then studying them. I should have got a good
grade.’

• These are his reasons for thinking that the test was
unfair

• His assumption is that the work he did should have

been sufficient for a good grade, though he actually
says that ‘After doing all this I should have got good
grade’
 From this simple initial example we
learn the following lessons:
a. Understanding of our normal use of English helps
us find out which reasons are presented for which
conclusion

b. Conclusion do not necessarily come at the end of

an argument.

c. Judging argument is complex. For that one need to

know ‘what is said’ ‘what is assumed’ and ‘what
context is’.
Example 2
• We should bring most of our troops home from
Europe. The threat from Russia has gone now that
the Evil Empire has collapsed; the Europeans can
defend themselves now that the threat to their
security is less and they are so rich; and we must
reduce our federal deficit fast if our economy is not
to collapse.
Questions:
1. What is the conclusion of this argument? What is
the author trying to persuade us of?
Contd…

2. What reasons are given in support of the

conclusion?

3. Is anything assumed( that is implicit but not

actually stated in the text)?

4. Again, you might like to comment briefly on

whether the argument is a good one.
Contd…
• It is clear that conclusion in this piece is ‘We should
bring the troops home from Europe.’

• Whether anything is assumed is harder to say

anyway we can say that the author assumes that
bringing the troops home will help to reduce the
federal deficit.

• Whether the argument is any good depends on its

reasons, its assumptions, on the support these give
to the conclusion and perhaps on the readers
perspective.
 What lesson do we learn from this
example?
A. Understanding English is enough to enable us to
spot the reasons and conclusion without too much
difficulty.

B. Assumptions are a problem again.

C. Evaluating this argument seems to require a good

deal of expert knowledge.
Example 3
• We need to make rail travel more attractive to
travelers. There are so many cars on the road that
the environment and human safety are under threat.
Rail travel should be made cheaper. Everyone wants
the roads to be less crowded, but they still want the
convenience of being able to travel by road
themselves. People will not abandon the car in favor
of the train without some new incentives.
 In this case we want to concentrate on the first three
questions which arguments pose:
• 1. What is the conclusion of this argument? What is the
author trying to persuade us of?

• 2. What reasons are given in support of the conclusion?

• 3. Is anything assumed (that is, implicit but not actually

stated)?

• It is quite difficult to say what the argument is

• To find out what is reasoning and conclusion we can do

‘therefore’ test.
 The language of reasoning: part I
• There are certain words and phrases which people
characteristically use to indicate that they are
arguing a case – that they are presenting reasons for
a conclusion. The obvious word which people use
in this context is ‘therefore’.

• For example Hans might have said:

I studied for days, reading the material four times,

underlining important details and then studying
them. After doing all this I should have got a good
grade. Therefore that test was unfair.
 Conclusion Indicators:
• They indicate the presence of a conclusion, for
which reasons have been presented.

• The following words are used much the same way

as ‘therefore’

• So…hence…,thus…, consequently…, which

proves/establishes that…, justifies the belief/view
that…, I conclude that…, from which we can infer
that…, it follows that…, demonstrates that…,
must…
 Reason Indicators:
• Because…, since…, for…, follows from the fact that…, the
reasons are…, firstly…, secondly… (and so on)

• When we wish to refer to both ‘conclusion indicator’ and ‘reason

indicator’ we commonly speak of argument indicators.

• For an example of a piece of reasoning which clearly contains

argument indicators consider the following passage:

• Planting genetically modified crops will enable farmers to use

more powerful weed-killers (which would have killed the crops if
used previously), so there will be a substantial reduction in the
number and density of weed seeds on farmland. Thus, it is likely
that the many farmland birds which depend on these seeds to
survive during the winter will decline still further.
Question 2.5
In the following examples identify which words and phrases
are ‘argument indicators. Also say which sentences they
indicate are reasons for which conclusions:
1.During the football game he committed a serious foul, so he deserved to be
sent off.

2. Women’s brains are on average smaller than men’s, therefore women are
less intelligent than men.

3. The sovereignty of Parliament is open to abuse by any Government as

power in Britain is too centralized.

4. The Green Movement is mistaken in thinking, we should recycle materials

like paper and glass because paper comes from trees, an easily renewable
resource, and glass is made from sand, which is plentiful and cheap.
Furthermore, in some American cities recycling schemes have been
abandoned because they are too expensive.
Say which of the words marked in bold in the following passage are
reason indicators and which are conclusion indicators and then say which
sentences they indicate are reasons and which are conclusions. Finally
say what reasons you think are presented by the author in support of
which conclusions.

• Most parents want their children to have successful careers.

Since education is essential to success, it is the duty of
parents to give children the best possible education. Because
it is also in the country’s economic interest to have a highly
educated population, the Government should help parents to
provide for their children’s education. Therefore all parents
should receive financial help towards the cost of their
children’s education, so the low paid should receive tax
credits and those who are better off should receive tax relief.
 The ‘therefore’ test
• When the writer is not using reason indicator and
conclusion indicator in an argument and when we are
not clear which is reason and which is conclusion we
can place therefore with the order of the sentences.

• If it makes sense, we can easily spot the reason and

conclusion

• If not, rearrange the sentences in meaningful way and

find reason and conclusion.

• Apply therefore test on Example 3

 The language of reasoning : part II
• Apart from ‘therefore’ ‘so’ and ‘because’ there are
also other words which can also play important role
in reasoning.

1. Expressing a claim we use language such as the

following:
‘my intuition/faith/ opinion/view/ thesis is…’, ‘I am
certain that/I can’t prove it but I believe that…’,
‘the facts are/appear to be…’, ‘I observed/saw
that…’, ‘
Contd…
2. Sometimes we recognize that we are making
assumptions and we may signal the fact by saying: ‘I
am assuming that…’, …implies/presupposes that…’

3. Sometimes we use quite general terms to show that we

are giving reasons for conclusion, words such as:
because… ‘the reasons are…’, ‘the evidence
is/implies…’, ‘my experience is…’, ‘the authority on
this says…’

4. When our reasoning is about a casual explanation we

sometimes signal this by saying ‘…explains why…’
‘that is why…’ ‘the causes are…’
Contd…
5. when we are making a recommendation or are deciding
something we may signal this by saying: ‘I recommend…’,
‘we should…’, ‘despite the risk the best option is…’

6. When we are clarifying or interpreting something we may

use such expressions as: ‘to clarify…’, ‘what I mean is…’,
‘for example…’, ‘by contrast…’, ‘let us define…’

7. There are many ways of evaluating a claim and the language

we use may be from any of the following dimensions:
‘…true/plausible/false…’ ‘…fair/biased…’,
‘…concise/oversimplified…’, ‘credible/unbelievable…’,
‘misrepresents the position/represents the position fairly…’,
‘is subjective/objective…’, ‘…is
vague/imprecise/ambiguous…’, ‘…is (un)acceptable….’
Contd…

8. If we are evaluating the support offered for a

view we commonly use language such as the
following: ‘…proves/justifies/supports/is consistent
with/conflicts with/contradicts/refutes…’, ‘…is a
fallacy/mistake…’, ‘…is
relevant/incidental/irrelevant…’, …provides
weak/strong support/criticism…’
 The following passage contain language from our previous
list or language performing similar functions. Where such
language occurs say what it is and what it indicates.

• It is often said… that although there in no positive evidence for the

existence of a God, nor is there evidence against his existence. So
it is best to keep an open mind and be agnostic. At first sight that
seems an unassailable position… But on second thoughts it seems
a cop-out, because the same could be said of Father Christmas and
tooth fairies. There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden.
There is no evidence of it, but you can’t prove that there aren’t
any, so shouldn’t we be agnostic with respect to fairies? The
trouble with the agnostic argument is that it can be applied to
anything. There is an infinite number of hypothetical beliefs we
could hold which we can’t positively disprove. On the whole,
people don’t believe in most of them, such as fairies, unicorns,
dragons, Father Christmas, and so on. But on the whole they do
believe in a creator God, together with whatever particular
baggage goes with the religion of their parents.
 How to express arguments clearly
yourself:
• Being able to use the language of reasoning
appropriately.

• Writing Task:
Choose a conclusion you would like to argue for and
then present some persuasive reasoning; make it very
clear what your reasoning is.

• Question:
Some people think that parents should teach children how to
be good members of society. Others, however, believe that
school is the place to learn this. Discuss both these views
and give your own opinion.
 Summary
• Practiced recognizing the difference between reasoning,
quarrelling, debating explaining, reporting

• Language of reasoning

• Argument indicators: therefore, because, so, if then, must

• Therefore test

• Conclusion can come any place, can also be implied

• Extended language of reasoning: evidence, inference,

opinion, support, proof, refute, fallacy
The End