Problem of Induction
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A Problem of Induction is a justification problem that seeks to justify inductive inference.
- See: Justified True Belief, Inductive Reasoning, Black Swan Statement, Scientific Method, Solipsism.
References
2019
- (Wikipedia, 2019) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_induction Retrieved:2019-1-9.
- The problem of induction is the philosophical question of whether inductive reasoning leads to knowledge understood in the classic philosophical sense, [1] highlighting the apparent lack of justification for: # Generalizing about the properties of a class of objects based on some number of observations of particular instances of that class (e.g., the inference that "all swans we have seen are white, and, therefore, all swans are white", before the discovery of black swans) or # Presupposing that a sequence of events in the future will occur as it always has in the past (e.g., that the laws of physics will hold as they have always been observed to hold). Hume called this the principle of uniformity of nature. [2]
The problem calls into question all empirical claims made in everyday life or through the scientific method, and, for that reason, the philosopher C. D. Broad said that "induction is the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy." Although the problem arguably dates back to the Pyrrhonism of ancient philosophy, as well as the Carvaka school of Indian philosophy, David Hume popularized it in the mid-18th century.
- The problem of induction is the philosophical question of whether inductive reasoning leads to knowledge understood in the classic philosophical sense, [1] highlighting the apparent lack of justification for: # Generalizing about the properties of a class of objects based on some number of observations of particular instances of that class (e.g., the inference that "all swans we have seen are white, and, therefore, all swans are white", before the discovery of black swans) or # Presupposing that a sequence of events in the future will occur as it always has in the past (e.g., that the laws of physics will hold as they have always been observed to hold). Hume called this the principle of uniformity of nature. [2]
- ↑ Vickers, John, "Can induction be justified?", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
- ↑ #9662: Most recently updated in 16 October 2007