Description of Induction
The descriptive problem of induction is the problem of describing
the methods by which we make inferences, without worrying about
whether these inferences are likely to lead to the truth, or
whether we have any reason to rely on them. This problem is
surprisingly difficult.
Theories
One of the earliest attempts to say something definite about
induction.
These models characterise good inductions in terms of the syntactic
structure of the inductive argument. This is the way that deduction
is characterised, and this approach was popular with the logical
empiricists.
A popular recent approach which tries to get round the problems for
the syntactic models by saying that we infer whatever best explains
the data.
Problems
These problems mainly apply to the syntactic models of induction,
and constitute the main motive for looking at other approaches.
A problem for a particularly simple and intuitive syntactic
formulation, showing that it makes all possible observations
relevant to all possible hypotheses.
A problem for any syntactic theory, arguing that it is not possible
to distinguish good and bad inferences without reference to the
meaning of the terms.
Important Philosophers
Copyright David Chart 1997