Offering reasons for conclusions

Working with a partner, take it in turns to think of a simple claim which you think you
have good reason to believe. (For example, you may think that there should be speed limits
lower than 30 mph on all housing estates, because cars travelling at 30 mph on streets
where children play can easily cause road deaths.) Tell your partner what your ‘conclusion’
is (in this example ‘Speed limits on housing estates should be lower than 30 mph’). Your
partner must then try to offer a reason for this. They may not come up with your reason,
but they may come up with another good reason. What you are practising in this exercise
is thinking about the relevance and the strength of potential reasons. You may not come
up with the strongest reason, but you should aim to produce something which is clearly
relevant, and gives some support to the conclusion, rather than being neutral or counting
against it.