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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]
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]