reasoning

Reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from information, evidence, or beliefs. It aims to connect premises to outcomes in a way that is coherent or rational. Philosophical and scientific discussions distinguish normative accounts, which describe how rational agents should reason, from descriptive accounts, which describe how people actually reason in practice.

Major types include deductive, inductive, and abductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning seeks conclusions that follow necessarily from its premises; if the premises are true and the argument is valid, the conclusion cannot be false. Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to general conclusions and yields conclusions that are probabilistic rather than certain. Abductive reasoning seeks the best available explanation for observed data, often used in diagnosis and theory formation.

Other important forms include causal reasoning, analogical reasoning, and probabilistic reasoning. In mathematics and logic, formal deduction is studied using systems such as propositional and predicate logic. In statistics and artificial intelligence, probabilistic and Bayesian methods model uncertainty and update beliefs with new evidence.

Reasoning operates within human cognitive limits and can be influenced by biases and heuristics. It is studied across disciplines such as psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, and computer science, where it also overlaps with automated reasoning and algorithmic problem solving.

Applications range from argumentation, law, and science to everyday decision making. Despite its ideal of rigor, actual reasoning often contends with ambiguity, incomplete data, and fallacies, prompting ongoing efforts to improve reasoning processes and critical thinking.