Questions tagged [induction]
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Hume on Induction vs Education
Hume thinks that mental ideas are built upon repeated observations and habituation, namely by induction. As far as I know, the principal alternative to this view is given by Descartes, postulating ...
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What is the justification for the claim that observing something that is both a raven and black increases the likelihood that all ravens are black?
Suppose that I have access to a machine that allows me to input a positive integer (perhaps up to ten decimal digits) and the machine will -- depending only on the input -- output a statement.
If the ...
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Problem of Induction: Dissolved
Whenever we make some claim about the world, the phenomena, whatever you want to call it, we necessarily draw from our immediate and past experience, i.e. we engage in any act of induction in the most ...
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Clarifications on 1) Modus Ponens, 2) Modus Tollens, 3) Inductive, 4) Incomplete based on examples
My second lecture on Hypothetico-Deductive methods (based on Popper's falsification theory).
In the class, we were given the following examples. We had to classify which examples belong to 1) Modus ...
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44 views
Reasoning for Inductive inference?
Just out of curiosity, if I should replace the deductive inference related questions to inductive inference, then which are true?
Inductive inferences rearrange current knowledge in such a way that ...
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Clarification regarding “Hume's argument against the justifiability of induction”
This is my quiz problem, in particular on "Hume's argument against the justifiability of induction". I was supposed to do True and False.
That every inference is either inductive or deductive.
That ...
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1answer
53 views
Contemporary problem of induction
What is the contemporary opinion on the problem of induction? It seems that no justification can be given, according to the SEP and an Oxford lecturer. It seems that the SEP does not provide any ...
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68 views
Is argument from need a valid type of reasoning, even in some cases?
To begin with, I know that if I need X , does not necessarily mean that X exists.
But in some cases, it seems very convincing that if I need X then X exists. These are some examples :
If I am ...
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201 views
Confusion between deductive and inductive reasoning definitions
The following arguments is always given as a classic example to deductive reasoning:
All men are mortal. (First premise)
Socrates is a man. (Second premise)
Therefore, Socrates is mortal. ...
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1answer
78 views
Should we accept non-predictive inductive arguments based on cultural judgments?
Some inductive arguments that are taken seriously are based on observations about society/culture that cannot be objectively confirmed and do not produce any predictions. Does that make them less ...
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What fallacy is assuming something is the case because of past events
I'm sure this is a simple question. What I am referring to is disbelieving someone on Day 20 because they have lied every day previous to Day 20.
Another example is the boy who cried wolf. The 50th ...
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107 views
Is deduction based on induction?
I'm wondering if deduction is in the end based on induction.
The problem of induction discovered by the Scottish philosopher David Hume is quite well known. On the other hand, it's commonly supported ...
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Is symbolic regression Popperian or inductivist?
This has been on my mind for a few days. I'd love a criticism of my arguments outlined here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/fallible-ideas/9bcC5WN6bLs. I'll re-issue them here:
While ...
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216 views
Can all inductive arguments be written as deductive arguments?
Whenever I see inductive arguments being used, it seems as though they can be redone by simply making certain assumptions and rephrasing the argument as a deduction from those assumptions.
For ...
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33 views
Can the conclusion of an inductive argument be that there is only one exception to the list of evidentiary claims?
Can this be an example of an inductive argument?
Premise 1: Country A rejected idea Z.
Premise 2: Country B rejected idea Z.
Premise 3: Country C rejected idea Z.
Premise 4: Country D rejected ...
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614 views
How do I operate with philosophers if I reject deductive reasoning?
Deductive reasoning is the one that takes premises for granted. I never do it. Therefore I never do deductive reasoning.
Well, enough jokes. It is safe to assume that deductive reasoning never should ...
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258 views
If nature is inherently imprecise, how is it so easy for us to conceptualize mathematical certainties?
In modeling any real physical system, we are required to employ inductive reasoning. We can never be completely certain about the state or properties of any system or of any future observation we will ...
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Inductive and deductive arguments and mathematical induction
I started reading Paul Teller's A Modern Formal Logic Primer. In the first chapter, the book presents the inductive and deductive arguments with the following examples:
The inductive argument:
...
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255 views
Can inductive arguments be made in first order logic and, if not, why not?
After reading a question by rus9384 Why is faulty generalization called an informal fallacy? I wondered whether induction can be part of any argument in first order logic (FOL).
rus9384 symbolized ...
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125 views
What's wrong with the following argument regarding temporal limits?
Let us suppose there is a limit: you cannot buy something after 10:00PM. From the position of law, of course "cannot" must be taken directly. But from the position of common thinking, people are less ...
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How did Aristotle define induction so incorrectly?
From: Philip Johnson-Laird BA PhD Psychology (UCL), Stuart Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Princeton. (Author isn't a logician.) How We Reason (1st edn 2008). p. 431, for Ch. 1.
The ...
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206 views
Questioning determinism (example)
Questioning the world's deterministic behaviour, I shall present an example which seems to defy any certainty about the recurrence of events and is (obviously) a result of faulty logic, but I would ...
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339 views
Is actual infinity physical infinity? Or just the axiom of infinity?
I've always been a little confused on this point.
My (second-hand) understanding of Aristotle's difference between potential and actual infinity is this:
We all have an intuition of the counting ...
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Swinburne's solution to Grue
In the new riddle of induction, Swinburne proposes the idea that there is a genuine distinction to be made between the predicate 'green' and the predicate 'grue' in that 'green' is a qualitative ...
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How does a Bayesian respond to the Grue-hypothesis?
According to Bayesian inference/confirmation theory, your confidence in a hypothesis increases as you observe more and more evidence predicted by that hypothesis (according to bayes theorem and the ...
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On the circularity of induction
Hume's problem of induction is that any attempt to justify induction would lead to a circular argument. Can someone give an example to illustrate this and maybe explain the problem more?
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Hume's problem of induction
Hume argued that assuming A causes B isn't the same as arriving at a truth of logic. However, even though Hume cautioned the "the mental habit" of induction should be used carefully he still believed ...
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115 views
Help me understand Earman and Salmon's pragmatic vindication
"Hume showed convincingly that, if nature is uniform, inductive reasoning will work very well, whereas, if nature is not uniform, inductive reasoning will fail. This much is pretty easy to see. [Some ...
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How does Hume justify his account of the origin of causation to a general sense?
Hume's account of causation explains why we think specific things have causes and explains them in terms of their constant connection in our minds such that we associate them by "habit". Hume brings ...
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555 views
Does Popper's falsification view of the problem of induction have any implications for the NEW riddle of induction?
Popper claims to solve Hume's problem of induction by explaining that science does not use induction at all, but rather science can be described by the process of putting forward hypotheses and then ...
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Does Hume's skepticism about induction extend to his treatise?
Can we extend Hume's skeptical conclusions to the treatise itself? How far reaching is Hume's skepticism, and if it is all-encompassing, then what is (as he sees) the purpose of his work?
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593 views
Is Goodman's new riddle of induction a restatement of Hume's problem of induction?
I was reading Goodman's [Facts, fictions and forecasts] and was confused by the new riddle of induction. I don't really see what's new about it, it seems to me like a restatement of Hume's problem ...
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Is there a deduction analog to the problem of induction?
Aren't deductive and inductive reasoning equally unjustified? So, inductive reasoning is going from specifics to general, whilst deductive reasoning is going from general to specific. But in deductive ...
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How applicable is the problem with induction to real life?
I am an engineer and know nothing about philosophy, my friend is an economist who argues that the problem with induction invalidates all predictions based on induction.
I can understand this on a ...
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221 views
Do Hume’s Problem and Zeno’s Arrow Paradox have the same solution?
Both Hume’s Problem and Zeno’s Arrow Paradox freeze an observation in time. Do they have the same solution?
To show that the future may not be predicted from the past, the test that David Hume ...
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90 views
What is an appropriate way to solve a Mill's method table, if it exists?
I'm being asked to determine the cause of a phenomenon using Mill's methods and a table of relevant factors. Below is the table:
A B C D E Event
* * *
* * ...
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622 views
Why can't uniformity of nature (in principle) be proven deductively?
I've been reading about the problem of induction and I have trouble understanding the argument for nature's uniformity being impossible to prove deductively.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on ...
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Are “if smoke then fire” arguments deductive or inductive?
I'm new to philosophy and have a question regarding deductive vs. inductive reasoning:
I'm told that "John ate a strange plant in the forest and got sick. Clearly, the plant made John sick."
I ...
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Does reliabilism fall to the problem of induction?
From what I've gathered, reliabilism states that epistemic justification occurs when someone forms a belief via truth-conducive methods. However, doesn't this fall to the problem of induction? Isn't ...
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Based on evolution, do we arrive at deductive principles inductively?
If our knowledge of deductive principles is a result of evolution... doesn't this mean that we arrive at deductive principles inductively?
Assuming deductive principles are beneficial for survival, ...
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Is this an inductive or a deductive argument?
Two flowers of the same cultivar were planted in adjacent plots .
The first was fertilized with Miracle-Gro and it flourished (2); The second was not and it din't(3) .
Therefore , Miracle-Gro ...
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104 views
What skeptical arguments do not use induction?
What skeptical arguments do not use induction? I haven't yet found anything which says these do not exist, so doubt that they don't. But I'm still intrigued, as SEP says that
[a] way to motivate ...
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213 views
Is this inductive or deductive?
The fact that we know we have a great great grandfather. Is the reasoning we use for this inductive or deductive?
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231 views
What is the name of the fallacy that denies inductive generalization based on emphasizing exceptions?
I am looking for the name of a logical fallacy that denies validity of induction based on an observed and repeated pattern (AKA statistics) by citing exceptions to the pattern which are outliers of ...
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282 views
Induction and prejudice
Is there any difference between prejudice and inductive reasoning (not mathematical induction)?
If so, what is the difference?
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What sort of knowledge has been retained through theory change?
The wikipedia article on the PMI says
When we develop a new theory, the central ideas of the old one usually
become refuted. Parts of the old theory, however, we carry over to the
new one
This ...
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4answers
211 views
In what way does induction concern itself “entirely with justification”?
Karl Popper was "opposed to induction when it came to science", in the words of one of his reviewers, because
Induction concerns itself entirely with justification – with establishing theories and ...
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Is logic based on uncertainty the fundamental logic?
Most formal logics are based on certainty, but certainty is only one probability among others, so a logic based on uncertainty and probability should be considered as the fundamental logic from which ...
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New riddle of induction; does the observer know the arbitrary time t?
Wikipedia, in "New riddle of induction", sets out Nelson Goodman's paradox as follows:
Goodman defined grue relative to an arbitrary but fixed time t as
follows: An object is grue if and only if ...
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What are the critiques of the “we might as well assume it” solution to the problem of induction?
I'm curious whether the following proposed solution to the problem of induction has ever been discussed in the literature:
Either the future resembles the past or it does not resemble the past. If it ...
