steiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny) (09/17/84)
*** A point about logical induction that has not come up is what Charles Sanders Peirce (who coined the term "pragmatism") argued that one could never prove anything inductively. We believe that any human will die eventurally and we reason that is so inductively. We do not, however, have records on every human that has ever existed, and humans that are still alive offer no evidence to support the statement "all humans die". Peirce (being pragmatic), did not think we should through away the principle just because we can't prove anything with it. He suggested renaming it "reduction" (and renaming deduction "abduction"). This would leave the word "induction" available to those special cases where we do have all the evidence. -- Don Steiny - Personetics @ (408) 425-0382 109 Torrey Pine Terr. Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060 ihnp4!pesnta -\ fortune!idsvax -> scc!steiny ucbvax!twg -/
BARNARD@SRI-AI.ARPA (09/21/84)
In reply to the claim that my statement
'deduction proceeds from the general (axioms) to
the specific (propositions), induction proceeds from
the specific to the general.'
is not correct (according to Kahane, LOGIC AND CONTEMPORARY RHETORIC),
see Aristotle, BASIC WORKS OF ARISTOTLE, ed. by R. McKeon, Random
House, 1941.