A claim that is offered as a reason for believing another claim is a premise. The claim for which a premise is supposed to give a reason is the conclusion of the argument. * Premise: Sam’s grandmother died, and he had to attend the funeral. * Conclusion: Sam should be excused for missing class.

But, boiled down, critical thinking is the careful application of reason in the determination of whether a claim is true.

The concept of an issue is very simple; an issue is nothing more than a question—in fact, we can use the two words interchangeably—the question is simply whether a given claim is true or not.

Arguments
Once we identify an issue, the next task is to weigh the reasons for and against the claim and try to determine its truth or falsity.

The second requirement for a premise’s support of a conclusion is that it be relevant to the conclusion. Sometimes this is expressed by saying the premise is cogent.
This requirement means that the premise, if true, must actually bear on the truth of the conclusion—that is, it must actually increase the likelihood that the conclusion is true.

An argument consists of two parts; one part (the premise or premises) supposedly provides a reason for thinking that the other part (the conclusion) is true.
Logicians recognize two kinds of good arguments: A good “deductive” argument and a good “inductive” argument.
Deductive Arguments
The first type of good argument, a good deductive argument, is said to be “valid,” which means it isn’t possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false. * Premise: Josh Fulcher lives in Alaska. * Conclusion: Therefore, Josh Fulcher lives in the United States. * Premise: Josh Fulcher is taller than his wife, and his wife is taller than his son. * Conclusion: Therefore, Josh Fulcher is taller than his son.
Inductive Arguments
The premises of