Reasoning
Reasoning is the act of using reason to derive a conclusion from certain premises. There are two ways to reach a conclusion. One is deductive, in which given true premises, the conclusion must follow and teaches nothing new about the premises. In inductive reasoning, on the other hand, if the premises are true, then the conclusion follows with some probability and a claim may contain information new to the argument and not presented in the evidence for the argument. Many people make the mistake of thinking and teaching that reasoning from the whole to the parts defines deductive reasoning and that the reverse process defines inductive reasoning, but in fact either type of reasoning may be either deductive or inductive. Both types of reasoning are of interest to such disciplines as philosophy, psychology, and artificial intelligence.
See also
Objective Reasoning - Subjective Reasoning - Inference