An argument is a rationale in which the reason presents evidence in support of a claim made in the conclusion. ... An explanation is a rationale in which the reason presents a cause of some fact represented by the conclusion. Its purpose is to help us understand how or why that fact occurs.

Can explanations function as arguments?

Sometimes, the exact same structure can function as an argument or as an explanation depending on the context. At the same time, arguments are very different in terms of what they try to accomplish. Explaining and arguing are very different activities even though they use the same types of structures.

What is an explanatory argument?

As traditionally formulated, the arguments are explanatory arguments. By explanatory I mean that the arguments at least incorporate reasons for supposing that the survival hypothesis explains the relevant data and does so in a way superior to all available competing explanations.