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that establish the acceptability of those premises. A complex structure is built up from a series of overlapping simple structures. (See chapter 3.)

In general terms, a claim that is being argued for or explained by the premises. The term conclusion' is only meaningful in relation to 'premise'. A conclusion can also be a premise to a further conclusion; these overlaps in function (claim as both premise and conclusion) can be seen in complex structures. Do not confuse with the more common use of 'conclusion' to mean 'the last part of an essay or presen-

Words and statements have a denotative function (they denote or describe something), but they also carry with them varying connotations or hidden meanings about the objects and events they denote. Connotations do not spring from a word on its own but from the interrelations between words, and from the ways in which words are used and understood by authors and audiences. A text will always contain many connotations, which spring from the ways that audiences use their existing knowledge and expectations to interpret the words in the text. Obviously, if you and your audience share the same background or context, those connotations are

In an analogy, there is always a need to assess the degree of consistency between the like objects being compared or between the actions or ideas associated with those objects. Often, errors in analogies stem from assumptions of consistency that are

The context in which reasoning takes place involves innumerable factors. They may include the audience (its knowledge, expectations, beliefs, relationship to the author of the reasoning), the conventional rules of presentation for particular knowledge groups, the goals authors are trying to achieve by reasoning, the other knowledge (assumptions, possible alternative arguments and explanations, and so on) that may bear upon our reasoning. Compare with audience and assumption.

Deduction occurs only in those arguments where the premises implicitly outline a logical relationship that is expressed explicitly in the conclusion and where, if one accepts all the premises as true, one cannot then deny the conclusion. Essentially, this form of reasoning is simply a way of moving the key moment of proof from the final stage of the argument to the point where one is providing arguments in support of the premises. The opposite of induction. (See chapter 7.)

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