Inferential Particles

Words like “so,” “therefore,” “thus,” “hence,” and “consequently” are often used to introduce conclusions; and words like “because,” “for,” and “since” often introduce premises. “Surely,” “certainly,” “no doubt,” and other words that signal confidence in what one’s about to say are also often used to introduce premises. Words of the sorts we’ve been discussing are sometimes called particles. Looking out for particles can help you to identify arguments and adding particles to your own writing is a good way to convey the structure of your own arguments to readers. However, all of these particles also have other uses in English, and people sometimes argue without using particles at all.

Premises and conclusions can be indicated in other ways. For example, in some contexts, one can indicate that a proposition is a conclusion by saying that it “must” or “has to be” the case, but like particles, these words have other uses as well. Or someone could be very explicit and say, “I conclude that I have to respect her, on the basis of the premise that she’s my mother.” Or, swinging from one extreme to the other, he might express the same argument by saying simply: “She’s my mother. I should respect her,” or “I should respect her. She’s my mother.” And, in most contexts, if someone said this, you would recognize that he probably meant one proposition to support the other, and you would be able to tell which was which, because you understand enough about the relations between the propositions to figure out what the author probably intends. Again, sometimes premises or conclusions can be expressed in the form of rhetorical questions: “Shouldn’t I respect her? After all, isn’t she my mother?” There is a wide variety of ways in which premises and conclusions can be expressed, and in which we are able to recognize that this is what is being done.

Some Particles often used to present Arguments

Used to introduce conclusions: so therefore thus hence consequently in conclusion it must be that then

Used to introduce premises: because since for surely certainly no doubt assuming that given that