Rationale

Rationale™ is the first high-quality software for argument mapping, the diagramming of reasoning and argument.

Rationale™ helps:

Professionals handle complex reasoning and decision making more effectively.
Students learn the fundamentals of good reasoning, critical thinking, and argumentative essay writing;

Rationale™ is the most intuitive and useful reasoning and decision support software available.

But don't take our word for it, read the reviews, see the user testimonials or watch a video of Rationale™ in action.

Essay Planning
Web Integration
Integrated Online Learning

Grouping

Build hierarchical grouping maps. Organise information by brainstorming, grouping and creating a hierarchy of ideas.

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Reasoning

Build structured reasoning maps. Represent reasons for and against a position, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and decide whether to accept or reject the position.

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Analysing

Build more complex multi-premise argument maps. Display multiple premises within a single reason or objection, represent support for inferences as opposed to premises, and evaluate premises separately from the reasons or objections to which they belong.

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Essay Planning

Create a structured essay outline from an argument map. Convert your map into structured prose in real time. Export the outline to Word to refine and finish your essay.

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Web Integration

Research using the built-in web browser. Highlight information and drag and drop it straight onto the workspace, where it automatically becomes an Item. You can also drag and drop Rationale files from websites like the Rationale wiki, to open them on the workspace.

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Integrated Online Learning

Build your critical thinking skills with online exercises. 12 sets of exercises, each about 15 minutes long, take you through the fundamentals of critical thinking. In a few hours you can be mapping and evaluating arguments with confidence.

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Download and try Rationale™ now!

If you like what you see you can purchase Rationale™ licenses online.

System requirements:

Rationale™ is a .Net application and requires Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista with .Net Framework Version 2.0 or greater installed. If you don't have .Net installed, the Rationale installer will take care of installing it for you.

Rationale™ does not run on Mac OS X but you can get it to run quite successfully on one of the new Intel Macs. More details