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Single Idea 9661
[filed under theme 14. Science / C. Induction / 2. Aims of Induction
]
Full Idea
I use the word 'induction' broadly, to cover all the methods we deem reasonable for forming beliefs about the unobserved parts of our world on the basis of experience with the observed parts.
Gist of Idea
Induction is just reasonable methods of inferring the unobserved from the observed
Source
David Lewis (On the Plurality of Worlds [1986], 2.5)
Book Ref
Lewis,David: 'On the Plurality of Worlds' [Blackwell 2001], p.116
A Reaction
Good. Attempts to be precise about it seem to be hopeless and invite paradoxes. Personally I just define it as 'learning from experience', because that makes what we do continuous with the behaviour of other sensible animals.
The
14 ideas
with the same theme
[possible targets for inductive thinking]:
1683
|
We learn universals from many particulars
[Aristotle]
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16576
|
Science is based on induction, for general truths about fire, rhubarb and magnets
[Buridan]
|
19387
|
Hypotheses come from induction, which is comparison of experiences
[Leibniz]
|
2198
|
We assume similar secret powers behind similar experiences, such as the nourishment of bread
[Hume]
|
19234
|
'Induction' doesn't capture Greek 'epagoge', which is singulars in a mass producing the general
[Peirce]
|
17631
|
Induction is inferring premises from consequences
[Russell]
|
2941
|
Induction accepts the simplest law that fits our experiences
[Wittgenstein]
|
5190
|
The induction problem is to prove generalisations about the future based on the past
[Ayer]
|
19462
|
Induction passes from particular facts to other particulars, or to general laws, non-deductively
[Ayer]
|
21748
|
More careful inductions gradually lead to the hypothetico-deductive method
[Quine]
|
3095
|
Induction is an attempt to increase the coherence of our explanations
[Harman]
|
9661
|
Induction is just reasonable methods of inferring the unobserved from the observed
[Lewis]
|
3709
|
Induction must go beyond the evidence, in order to explain why the evidence occurred
[Bonjour]
|
6775
|
Induction is inference to the best explanation, where the explanation is a law
[Bird]
|