Inductive reasoning is a branch of logic. In a valid inductive argument, the conclusion (consequent) is believed to be true on the basis of its antecedents. For example, when all swans are observed to ...

As we mentioned earlier in this series, one of the goals of these articles is to help forum members separate productive debates from flame wars. If this our goal, we have an obvious challenge: what do ...

My 5-year-old nephew once confidently told me that all dinosaurs were green because his three dinosaur toys were green. So I showed him a nature documentary, Walking with Dinosaurs, and suddenly, ...

Arguments are attempts to persuade by providing reasons (or premises or propositions) in support of a particular claim (or conclusion). In a deductive or ‘truth-preserving’ argument, the conclusion ...

We have seen that we can deduce new conditionals from old. But where do we get conditionals to start with? Fortunately, we can get conditionals from our three principles. Premise (5) in the LSAT ...

Hume himself does not use the word "induction". But what has come to be called "the problem of induction" comes down to us from him. What follows is not a detailed analysis of Hume's text. I will ...