In the classic textbook example of an argument, Socrates is a man.
All men are mortal.
So Socrates is mortal the conclusion is the statement Socrates is mortal and the premises are the two statements Socrates is a man and all men are mortal . In this expression of the argument a conclusion indicator , the word so , signals that the statement that comes after it is made on the basis of the others. Synonyms of so , including therefore, thus, hence , accordingly, consequently and various longer phrases, are also used as conclusion indicators. Note that what is expressed by the sentence If Socrates is a man and all men are mortal, then Socrates is mortal is not an argument but a single conditional statement. In making this statement one is not asserting that Socrates is a man, or that all men are mortal, or that Socrates is mortal.