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To give an argument is to give evidence, and then draw a conclusion from it; it is to give reasons to believe something, and then to state the belief. The statements that give expression to the evidence, or the reasons, are all called the premises; the thing one argues for is called the conclusion; and if the argument is successful, the premises together entail the conclusion. One can think of a whole argument as a set of statements, comprising premise or premises, the conclusion, and the fact (or supposed fact) that the premises entail the conclusion. But usually the latter logical relationship between the premises and the conclusion is not explicitly stated, and sometimes the conclusion itself is not stated either, but left to the reader to supply. |
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To give an argument is to give evidence, and then draw a conclusion from it; it is to give reasons to believe something, and then to state the belief. The statements that give expression to the evidence, or the reasons, are all called the premises; the thing one argues for is called the conclusion; and if the argument is successful, the premises together entail or imply the conclusion. One can think of a whole argument as a set of statements, comprising premise or premises, the conclusion, and the fact (or supposed fact) that the premises entail the conclusion. But usually the latter logical relationship between the premises and the conclusion is not explicitly stated, and sometimes the conclusion itself is not stated either, but left to the reader to supply. |
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