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Single Idea 1683

[filed under theme 14. Science / C. Induction / 2. Aims of Induction ]

Full Idea

It is from many particulars that the universal becomes plain. Universals are valuable because they make the explanation plain.

Gist of Idea

We learn universals from many particulars

Source

Aristotle (Posterior Analytics [c.327 BCE], 88a05)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'Posterior Analytics (2nd ed)', ed/tr. Barnes,Jonathan [OUP 1993], p.43


The 14 ideas with the same theme [possible targets for inductive thinking]:

We learn universals from many particulars [Aristotle]
Science is based on induction, for general truths about fire, rhubarb and magnets [Buridan]
Hypotheses come from induction, which is comparison of experiences [Leibniz]
We assume similar secret powers behind similar experiences, such as the nourishment of bread [Hume]
'Induction' doesn't capture Greek 'epagoge', which is singulars in a mass producing the general [Peirce]
Induction is inferring premises from consequences [Russell]
Induction accepts the simplest law that fits our experiences [Wittgenstein]
The induction problem is to prove generalisations about the future based on the past [Ayer]
Induction passes from particular facts to other particulars, or to general laws, non-deductively [Ayer]
More careful inductions gradually lead to the hypothetico-deductive method [Quine]
Induction is an attempt to increase the coherence of our explanations [Harman]
Induction is just reasonable methods of inferring the unobserved from the observed [Lewis]
Induction must go beyond the evidence, in order to explain why the evidence occurred [Bonjour]
Induction is inference to the best explanation, where the explanation is a law [Bird]