Argument (philosophy)

An argument, in the philosophical sense of that word, may be defined as a set of statements. One member of the set is the argument's conclusion, while the rest are its premises. The premises are reasons presented to show that the conclusion is, or is probably, true.

When an argument is presented to prove that its conclusion is true (not just probably true), the argument is called deductive. When an argument is presented to prove that its conclusion is probably true, the argument is called inductive.