Ideas from 'Elements of Law and Justice' by Gottfried Leibniz [1669], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Leibniz Selections' by Leibniz,Gottfried (ed/tr Wiener,Philip P.) [Scribners 1951,]].

green numbers give full details    |     back to texts     |     unexpand this idea


14. Science / C. Induction / 2. Aims of Induction
Hypotheses come from induction, which is comparison of experiences
                        Full Idea: We construct a hypothesis on the basis of an induction, that is on the basis of a comparison of experiences.
                        From: Gottfried Leibniz (Elements of Law and Justice [1669], p.2)
                        A reaction: This fits the traditional positivist picture of science (observe-hypothesise-predict-observe). I like the definition of induction as 'comparison of experiences', because it doesn't reduce it to sequences of objects, and points to coherence.