<p>The paper proposes a general account of how real-life practical argumentation can be explained on the basis of empirical data regarding cultural value priorities. This general account is built upon Schwartz’s theory of human values and the value-based theory of normative reasons for action, as well as upon the principle that an agent ought to perform an action, if and only if the total weight of the reasons for the agent to perform the action is greater than the total weight of the reasons for the agent not to perform the action. The practical significance of this general account is demonstrated by applying it in case studies of two real-life instances of practical argumentation – the 2018 Bulgarian debate about the ratification of the Istanbul convention and the 2015 Putin-Obama discussion about the intervention in the Syrian civil war. In both case studies, empirical data regarding cultural value priorities is gathered from the results from the European Social Survey. The theoretical significance of the general account is demonstrated through comparison and contrast with related research.</p>