Rea"son*er (-r), n. One who reasons or argues; as, a fair reasoner; a
close reasoner; a logical reasoner.
Rea"son*ing, n. 1. The act or process of adducing a reason or reasons;
manner of presenting one's reasons.
2. That which is offered in argument; proofs or reasons when arranged
and developed; course of argument.
His reasoning was sufficiently profound.
Macaulay.
Syn. -- Argumentation; argument. -- Reasoning, Argumentation. Few words
are more interchanged than these; and yet, technically, there is a
difference between them. Reasoning is the broader term, including both
deduction and induction. Argumentation denotes simply the former, and
descends from the whole to some included part; while reasoning embraces
also the latter, and ascends from the parts to a whole. See Induction.
Reasoning is occupied with ideas and their relations; argumentation has
to do with the forms of logic. A thesis is set down: you attack, I
defend it; you insist, I reply; you deny, I prove; you distinguish, I
destroy your distinctions; my replies balance or overturn your
objections. Such is argumentation. It supposes that there are two
sides, and that both agree to the same rules. Reasoning, on the other
hand, is often a natural process, by which we form, from the general
analogy of nature, or special presumptions in the case, conclusions
which have greater or less degrees of force, and which may be
strengthened or weakened by subsequent experience.