reasoning

reasoning
Any process of drawing a conclusion from a set of premises may be called a process of reasoning. If the conclusion concerns what to do, the process is called practical reasoning, otherwise pure or theoretical reasoning. Evidently such processes may be good or bad: if they are good, the premises support or even entail the conclusion drawn; if they are bad, the premises offer no support to the conclusion. Formal logic studies the cases in which conclusions are validly drawn from premises. But little human reasoning is overtly of the forms logicians identify. Partly, we are concerned to draw conclusions that ‘go beyond’ our premises, in the way that conclusions of logically valid arguments do not (see abduction, induction ). Partly, it has to be remembered that reasoning is a dynamic process, and that what to a logician looks like a static contradiction may be the sensible replacement of one set of assumptions with others as the process develops. Furthermore, as we reason we make use of an indefinite lore or common-sense set of presumptions about what is likely or not (see frame problem, narrative competence ). A task of an automated reasoning project is to mimic this casual use of knowledge of the way of the world in computer programs.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

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  • Reasoning — is the cognitive process of looking for reasons for beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings. [ Kirwin, Christopher. 1995. Reasoning . In Ted Honderich (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Philosophy . Oxford: Oxford University Press: p. 748] Humans… …   Wikipedia

  • Reasoning — Rea son*ing, n. 1. The act or process of adducing a reason or reasons; manner of presenting one s reasons. [1913 Webster] 2. That which is offered in argument; proofs or reasons when arranged and developed; course of argument. [1913 Webster] His… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • reasoning — reasoning; un·reasoning; …   English syllables

  • reasoning — index contemplation, dialectic, discursive (analytical), judgment (discernment), justification, pensive …   Law dictionary

  • reasoning — (n.) late 14c., exercise of the power of reason; act or process of thinking logically; an instance of this; see REASON (Cf. reason) (v.) …   Etymology dictionary

  • reasoning — [n] logic, interpretation acumen, analysis, apriority, argument, case, cogitation, concluding, corollary, deduction, dialectics, exposition, generalization, hypothesis, illation, induction, inference, interpretation, logistics, premise, proof,… …   New thesaurus

  • reasoning — [rē′zəniŋ] n. 1. the drawing of inferences or conclusions from known or assumed facts; use of reason 2. the proofs or reasons resulting from this …   English World dictionary

  • Reasoning — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Reasoning >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 1 =>{ant,477,} reasoning ratiocination rationalism Sgm: N 1 dialectics dialectics induction generalization GRP: N 2 Sgm: N 2 discussion discussion comment Sgm: N 2 …   English dictionary for students

  • reasoning — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ careful, sound ▪ circular, faulty, flawed, specious (formal) ▪ underlying ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • reasoning — n. 1) cogent, logical, plausible, solid, sound reasoning 2) faulty; shrewd; specious reasoning 3) deductive; inductive reasoning 4) reasoning that + clause (her reasoning that the crime had been committed elsewhere proved to be true) * * * [… …   Combinatory dictionary

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