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Sample Essay Question - Deduction and Induction4

The document provides an example essay response that explains the difference between deductive and inductive arguments in 3 paragraphs. It states that a deductive argument aims to guarantee the truth of the conclusion if the premises are true, while an inductive argument aims to make the conclusion probably true. It also notes that deductive arguments are limited to logic and definitions, while inductive arguments can include various types of statistical, experiential, and causal evidence.

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220 views2 pages

Sample Essay Question - Deduction and Induction4

The document provides an example essay response that explains the difference between deductive and inductive arguments in 3 paragraphs. It states that a deductive argument aims to guarantee the truth of the conclusion if the premises are true, while an inductive argument aims to make the conclusion probably true. It also notes that deductive arguments are limited to logic and definitions, while inductive arguments can include various types of statistical, experiential, and causal evidence.

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kingkungfu
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In addition to the other materials I have given, the following essay serves as an example, of approximately the right length, of good essay on deduction and induction. Rich McD

Essay question: Explain the difference between deductive and inductive argument. A deductive argument is an argument in which the premises purport to provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion. In a deductive argument, the premises are intended to provide support for the conclusion that is so strong that, if the premises are true, it would be impossible for the conclusion to be false. An inductive argument is an argument in which it is thought that the premises provide reasons supporting the probable truth of the conclusion. In an inductive argument, the premises are intended only to be so strong that, if they are true, then it is unlikely that the conclusion is false. The difference between the two comes from the sort of relation the author or expositor of the argument takes there to be between the premises and the conclusion. If the author of the argument believes that the truth of the premises definitely establishes the truth of the conclusion due to definition, logical entailment or mathematical necessity, then the argument is deductive. If the author of the argument does not think that the truth of the premises definitely establishes the truth of the conclusion, but nonetheless believes that their truth provides good reason to believe the conclusion true, then the argument is inductive. The word deduction refers to the process of advancing a deductive argument, or going through a process of reasoning that can be reconstructed as a deductive argument. Induction refers to the process of advancing an inductive argument, or making use of reasoning that can be reconstructed as an inductive argument. Because deductive arguments are those in which the truth of the conclusion is thought to be completely guaranteed, and not just made probable by, the truth of the premises, if the argument is a sound one, the truth of the conclusion is contained within the truth of the premises; i.e., the conclusion does not go beyond what the truth of the premises implicitly requires. For this reason, deductive arguments are usually limited to inferences that follow from definitions, mathematics and rules of formal logic. For example, the following are examples of two different deductive arguments: 1.) There are 32 books on the top-shelf of the bookcase, and 12 on the lower shelf of the bookcase. There are no books anywhere else in my bookcase. Therefore, there are 44 books in the bookcase.

2.) Bergen is either in Norway or Sweden. If Bergen is in Norway, then Bergen is in Scandinavia. If Bergen is in Sweden, the Bergen is in Scandinavia. Therefore, Bergen is in Scandinavia. Inductive arguments, on the other hand, can appeal to any consideration that might be thought relevant to the probability of the truth of the conclusion. Inductive arguments, therefore, can take very wide ranging forms, including arguments dealing with statistical data, generalizations from past experience, appeals to signs, evidence or authority, and causal relationships. Because the difference between inductive and deductive arguments involves the strength of evidence which the author believes the premises to provide for the conclusion, inductive and deductive arguments differ with regard to the standards of evaluation that are applicable to them. The difference does not have to do with the content or subject matter of the argument. Thus, one may conclude that the same utterance may be used to present either a deductive or an inductive argument, depending on the intentions of the person advancing it.

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