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Single Idea 17027

[filed under theme 14. Science / C. Induction / 1. Induction ]

Full Idea

In experimental philosophy, propositions are deduced from the phenomena and are made general by induction.

Gist of Idea

Science deduces propositions from phenomena, and generalises them by induction

Source

Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687], Bk 3 Gen Schol)

Book Ref

Newton,Isaac: 'Philosophical Writings' [CUP 2004], p.92


A Reaction

Sounds easy, but generalising by induction requires all sorts of assumptions about the stability of natural kinds. Since the kinds are only arrived at by induction, it is not easy to give a proper account here.


The 27 ideas with the same theme [obtaining general truth from many instances]:

Nobody fears a disease which nobody has yet caught [Aristotle]
Induction is the progress from particulars to universals [Aristotle]
Even simple facts are hard to believe at first hearing [Lucretius]
Science deduces propositions from phenomena, and generalises them by induction [Newton]
The idea of inductive evidence, around 1660, made Hume's problem possible [Hume, by Hacking]
The whole theory of induction rests on causes [Mill]
Mill's methods (Difference,Agreement,Residues,Concomitance,Hypothesis) don't nail induction [Mill, by Lipton]
Induction is merely psychological, with a principle that it can actually establish laws [Frege]
In science one observation can create high probability, while a thousand might prove nothing [Frege]
If you eliminate the impossible, the truth will remain, even if it is weird [Conan Doyle]
Induction relies on similar effects following from each cause [Quine]
Induction is just more of the same: animal expectations [Quine]
Enumerative induction is inference to the best explanation [Harman]
Brains are essentially anticipation machines [Dennett]
Induction is repetition, instances, deduction, probability or causation [Lipton]
If we only use induction to assess induction, it is empirically indefeasible, and hence a priori [Field,H]
Enumerative induction gives a universal judgement, while statistical induction gives a proportion [Pollock/Cruz]
Inductive success is rewarded with more induction [Gelman]
Induction leaps into the unknown, but usually lands safely [Maudlin]
The problem of induction is how to justify our belief in the uniformity of nature [Baggini /Fosl]
Induction is said to just compare properties of categories, but the type of property also matters [Murphy]
Induction is reasoning from the observed to the unobserved [Ladyman/Ross]
Induction is inferences from examined to unexamined instances of a given kind [Okasha]
Psychologists use 'induction' as generalising a property from one category to another [Machery]
'Ampliative' induction infers that all members of a category have a feature found in some of them [Machery]
If causation were necessary, the past would fix the future, and induction would be simple [Mumford/Anjum]
The only full uniformities in nature occur from the essences of fundamental things [Mumford/Anjum]