The Language of Reasoning
By Steve Williams
There is always a basic and spontaneous philosophizing that arises when people use words
like is, real , should , fair , know , beauty and purpose – words that suggest the speakers are
making judgements about existence, morality, knowledge, aesthetics and the ends of life.
There are also traces of philosophical thought contained in the ‘common sense’ of
communities: in established maxims, customary convictions, familiar metaphors and popular
political opinions.
There is no escape from this kind of spontaneous philosophy. However, like the proverbs of
old, it is often incoherent, contradictory and lacking in critical awareness. Deliberate
philosophizing is therefore required in order to ‘bring to light’ contradictions, and also
categories, models and standards in terms of which people interpret, judge and make
meaning in the world.
The first step for students towards deliberate philosophising is to get greater control over
their thinking by becoming more expert in using the language of reasoning.
There are certain words, phrases and concepts that structure any complex thinking, discussion
or writing. They are necessary in order to make judgements and to articulate and defend
those judgements in discourse with others. Here is a selection of the most important of these
expressions organised under four headings related to the kind of work they do. Some
expressions necessarily appear under more than one.
 Degree: All/some/none, always/sometimes/never, more/less important, better/worse,
impossible/possible/probable/likely/certain, degree
 Kind: Quality, attribute, criterion, All/some/none, is/isn’t, if … then, group, class, is/are,
part/whole, example, alternative, addition, kind.
 Relation: Cause, effect, consequence, if … then, same/similar/different, opposite,
part/whole, important, significant, best/worst, before/after/at the same time,
certain/possible/probable/impossible, means/end/purpose, connection, relation.
 Discourse: question, answer, statement, proposition, hypothesis, opinion, reason,
premise, argument, grounds, principle, maxim, assumption/presupposition, evidence,
conclusion, if … then, unless.
The English educationalist, philosopher and literary critic I. A. Richards suggested that words
like these are amongst the most ‘resourceful’ in the language because they help people think
about everything else: In a striking sentence, he says: ‘The senses of these chief words – and
their ways of working with and against one another – are the rules of reason’ (Richards 1955,
p.10). Let’s relate Richard’s thoughts to some common conceptions of ‘thinking skills’.
Most of the expressions in ‘the language of reasoning’ are necessary for the sorts of
operations emphasised by thinking skills initiatives: sorting, classifying, analysing, recognising
part/whole relationships, comparing and contrasting, hypothesising, drawing conclusions,
justifying conclusions, distinguishing fact from opinion; relating causes and effects, generating
options and so on (see Schwartz and Parks, 1994).
We can see that all these operations require the enlightened use of the language of
reasoning. In fact comparing is the enlightened use of terms like similar and different for a
purpose; justifying is the enlightened use of terms like reason and conclusion. The terms are
tools, as are the moves of agreeing and comparing that require the use of those terms.
Routines to develop reasoning
Here are some ideas for helping students appropriate the language of reasoning in the course
of regular classroom dialogue.

Show students how they can enquire systematically into any issue using a succession
of questions that incorporate key expressions from the language of reasoning. Show
them how you go about putting a series of questions together; prompt them by asking
‘What questions do you have at this point?’ or ‘What do you think your next three
questions will be about this?’ Draw their attention to the usefulness of the expressions
in framing questions such as ‘What are the alternatives?’ ‘What is similar and different
about them?’ What would the consequences be if one of those alternatives were
chosen?

Use diagrams and written lists to help students when reasons, examples, similarities,
or causes need to be gathered and analysed by a group.

Stress the language of reasoning in all the dialogues you have with pupils. Use the
language yourself by overlaying it onto students’ contributions; so if one says: ‘I’ve got
another idea,’ ask them if they think it is a different idea from those raised so far and,
if so, in what ways is it different. If someone says: ‘X happens because of Y’ you might
say: ‘So that’s a consequence, what are some of the other possible consequences?’
and ‘which consequences do you think are most important?’ These kinds of moves
initiate students into using the language of reasoning to reflect on their own thinking.

Focus from time to time on one resourceful expression and create an exercise to help
students become more familiar with the part it plays in reasoning.
REFERENCES
Richards, I. A. (1955) Speculative Instruments, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Swartz, R.J., & Parks, S. (1994). Infusing the teaching of critical and creative thinking into
content instruction, Critical Thinking Books & Software. Pacific Grove, Canada