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For instance if you say:

"One can always justify a given action by appealing to the value of its outcome"

is this a conditional statement?

Appeal to outcome's value --> justify action.

Rather than relying mechanically on finding "indicators," I would just try to identify the two elements that could be conditional to one another and try to restate their relationship in an if-then form. The sentence is saying that the "appealing" is a surefire way to "justify." So if appeal, then justify.