Abduction, or abductive reasoning, is the process of reasoning to the best explanations. In other words, it is the reasoning process that starts from a set of facts and derives their most likely explanations. The term abduction is sometimes used to mean just the generation of hypotheses to explain observations or conclusions, but the former definition is more common both in philosophy and computing. Deduction and abduction differ in the direction in which a rule like “a entail ...

Including:

• Abductive reasoning - Logic-based Abduction
• Abductive reasoning - Set-Cover Abduction
• Abductive reasoning - History of the concept
• Abductive reasoning - Applications

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Definition and meaning of deductive reasoning:

deductive reasoning - an inference in which the conclusion about particulars follows necessarily from general theory. In science, deductive reasoning would involve stating an hypothesis first, and then trying to find facts that reject the hypothesis

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The philosopher Charles Peirce introduced abduction into modern logic. In his works before 1900, he mostly uses the term to mean the use of a known rule to explain an observation, e.g., “if it rains the grass is wet” is a known rule used to explain that the grass is wet. He later used the term to mean creating new rules to explain new observations, emphasising that abduction is the only logical process that actually creates anything new. Namely, he described the process of science as a combination of abduction, deduction and implicati ...

See also:

Abductive reasoning, Abductive reasoning - Logic-based Abduction, Abductive reasoning - Set-Cover Abduction, Abductive reasoning - History of the concept, Abductive reasoning - Applications

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Inference is the act or process of drawing a conclusion based solely on what one already knows. Suppose you see rain on your window - you can infer from that, quite trivially, that the sky is grey. Looking out the window would have yielded the same fact, but through a process of perception, not inference (note however that perception itself can be viewed as an inferential process). Inference is studied within several different fields. Human inference (i.e. how humans draw conclusions) is traditionally studied within the field o ...

Including:

• Inference - The accuracy of inductive and deductive inferences
• Inference - Valid inferences
• Inference - An example: the classic syllogism
• Inference - Automatic logical inference
• Inference - An example: inference using Prolog
• Inference - Inference and uncertainty
• Inference - Common sense and uncertain reasoning
• Inference - Bayesian statistics and probability logic
• Inference - Frequentist statistical inference
• Inference - Fuzzy logic

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Logic, from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy among philosophers. However the subject is grounded, the task of the logician is the same: to advance an account of valid and fallacious inference to allow ...

Including:

• Logic - Nature of logic
• Logic - Informal formal and symbolic logic
• Logic - Rival conceptions of logic
• Logic - History of logic
• Logic - Relation to other sciences
• Logic - Deductive and inductive reasoning
• Logic - Topics in logic
• Logic - Syllogistic logic
• Logic - Predicate logic
• Logic - Modal logic
• Logic - Deduction and reasoning
• Logic - Mathematical logic
• Logic - Philosophical logic
• Logic - Logic and computation
• Logic - Controversies in logic
• Logic - Bivalence and the law of the excluded middle
• Logic - Implication: strict or material?
• Logic - Tolerating the impossible
• Logic - Is logic empirical?

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There are several meanings for the word deduction: Natural deduction Deductive reasoning Deductions in terms of taxation, such as Itemized deductions Standard deduction See also: Logic Venn diagram Inductive reasoning Both statistics and the scientific method rely on both induction and deduction. Other related archivesDeductive reasoning, Inductive reasoning, Itemiz

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A fallacy is either an invalid argument or a specific error in some part of the argument which renders it invalid. In logic, fallacies of the latter sort are either formal or informal; because the validity of a deductive arguments depends on its form, a formal fallacy, or logical fallacy, is a deductive argument which has an invalid form, whereas an informal fallacy is any other invalid mode of reasoning ...

Including:

• Fallacy - Aristotelian fallacies
• Fallacy - Material fallacies
• Fallacy - Verbal fallacies
• Fallacy - Logical fallacies
• Fallacy - Other systems of classification
• Fallacy - Fallacies in the media and politics
• Fallacy - General list of fallacies
• Fallacy - General examples
• Fallacy - Example 1: Material Fallacy
• Fallacy - Example 2: Verbal Fallacy
• Fallacy - Example 3: Verbal Fallacy
• Fallacy - Example 4: Logical Fallacy

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The term Western thought is usually associated with the cultural tradition that traces its origins to Greek thought and Jewish and Christian religion (See also Western culture). Cornerstones in this tradition are arguably: deductive reasoning, rule of law and monotheism. Western society may be thought of as following an evolution that began with the philosophers of Athens such as Solon and Socrates. It continued through the Roman Empire and, with the addition of Christianity (which had its origins in the East), spread throughout Europe. During the colonial era, i ...

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In logic, begging the question is the term for a type of fallacy occurring in deductive reasoning in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in one of the premises. For an example of this, consider the following argument: "Politicians cannot be trusted. Only an untrustworthy person would run for office; the fact that politicians are untrustworthy is proof of this. Therefore politicians cannot be trusted" Such an argument is fallacious, because it relies upon its own proposition (in this case, "pol ...

Including:

• Begging the question - History
• Begging the question - An example
• Begging the question - Variations
• Begging the question - Related Fallacies
• Begging the question - Modern Usage

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Something is counter-intuitive if it does not seem likely to be true using the tool of human intuition or "gut-feeling" to perceive reality. The phrase is most often used to describe bits of scientifically-discovered, objective truth that, for one reason or another, our so-called "right brain", intuition, emotions, and the sum of our cognitive processes outside of deductive rationality interpret as 'false' or 'wrong.' Of course, the subjective nature of intuition make it impossible to say with any objective accuracy what ...

Including:

• Counter-intuitive - Examples of counter-intuitive theories
• Counter-intuitive - Counter-productive
• Counter-intuitive - Michelson-Morley experiment

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Precognition is a form of extra-sensory perception which allows a "percipient" to perceive information about future places or events before they happen (as opposed to merely predicting them based on deductive reasoning and current knowledge). A related term, presentiment is used to refer to information about future events which may not present itself in conscious form but rather in the form of emotions or feelings at the autonomic level. These terms are considered by some to be s ...

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• Precognition - History
• Precognition - Precognition in fiction

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Mathematics is often defined as the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. Another view, held by many mathematicians, is that mathematics is the body of knowledge justified by deductive reasoning, starting from axioms and definitions. Practical mathematics, in nearly every society, is used for such purposes as accounting, measuring land, or predicting astronomical events. Mathematical discovery or research often involves discovering and cataloging patterns, without regard for application. Today, the natural sciences, engineering, economics, and medici ...

Including:

• Mathematics - History
• Mathematics - Inspiration pure and applied mathematics and aesthetics
• Mathematics - Notation language and rigor
• Mathematics - Is mathematics a science?
• Mathematics - Overview of fields of mathematics
• Mathematics - Major themes in mathematics
• Mathematics - Quantity
• Mathematics - Structure
• Mathematics - Space
• Mathematics - Change
• Mathematics - Foundations and methods
• Mathematics - Discrete mathematics
• Mathematics - Applied mathematics
• Mathematics - Important theorems
• Mathematics - Important conjectures
• Mathematics - History and the world of mathematicians
• Mathematics - Mathematics and other fields
• Mathematics - Common misconceptions

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An argument is cogent if and only if the truth of the argument's premises would render the truth of the conclusion probable (i.e., the argument is strong) and the premises are, in fact, true. Cogency can be considered inductive logic's analogue to deductive logic's "validity." As an example, consider the following. Without looking, Jill pulled out 100 marbles from a bag; 95 of the marbles Jill pulled out were red. Therefore, the next marble Jill ...

Including:

• Cogency - Probable
• Cogency - Good argument

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Dignāga (5th century AD), was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. He was born into a Brahmin family in Simhavakta near Kanchi (Kanchipuram), and very little is known of his early years, except that he took as his spiritual preceptor Nagadatta of the Vatsiputriya school. This branch of Buddhist thought defended the view that there exists a kind of real personality independe ...

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• Dignaga - External references

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An explanation is a statement which points to causes, context and consequences of some object (or process, state of affairs etc.), together with rules or laws which link these to the object. Some of these elements of the explanation may be implicit. Explanations can only be given by those with understanding of the object which is explained. In scientific research, explanation is one of three purposes of research (other two being exploration and description). Explanation is the discovery and reporting of relationsh ...

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Reason is a term used in philosophy and other human sciences to refer to the higher cognitive faculties of the human mind. It describes a type of thought or aspect of thought, especially abstract thought, and the ability to think abstractly, which is felt to be especially human. The concept of reason is connected to language, as reflected in the meanings of the Greek word "logos", later to be translated by Latin "ratio" and then French "raison", from which the English word is derived. Indeed it has often been held that h ...

Including:

• Reason - Reason and logic
• Reason - Reason versus logic
• Reason - Reason as logic
• Reason - Reason and faith

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Continental rationalism is an approach to philosophy based on the thesis that human reason can in principle be the source of all knowledge. It originated with René Descartes and spread during the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily in continental Europe. In contrast, the approach known as British Empiricism held that all ideas come to us through experience, either through the five external senses or through such inner sensations as pain and pleasure, and thus that knowledge (with the possible exception of mathematics) is essentially e ...

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The Critique of Pure Reason (Kritik der reinen Vernunft), first published in 1781 with a second edition in 1787, is widely regarded as the most influential and widely read work of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant and one of the most influential and important in the entire history of Western philosophy. It is often referred to as Kant's "first critique", and was followed by the Critiqu ...

Including:

• Critique of Pure Reason - Kant's rejection of Hume's empiricism
• Critique of Pure Reason - Kant's approach
• Critique of Pure Reason - Transcendental Aesthetic
• Critique of Pure Reason - Transcendental Logic
• Critique of Pure Reason - Transcendental Analytic
• Critique of Pure Reason - Transcendental Dialectic
• Critique of Pure Reason - Terms
• Critique of Pure Reason - Intuition

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Empiricism comes from the Greek word εμπειρισμός, a noun meaning a "test" or "trial". The -pir- is ultimately related to the -per- of the Latin words experientia and experimentum, both of which mean "experiment," and from which our words "experiment" and "experience" come. (Interestingly, it is also related to the Latin word periculum, "essay, trial, danger," which gives the English word "peril".) Empiricism is therefore the philosophical doctrine (-ism) of "testing" or "experimentation," and has taken ...

Including:

• Empiricism - Empiricism and Science
• Empiricism - Empiricism in history
• Empiricism - Classical Empiricism
• Empiricism - Modern Empiricism
• Empiricism - Radical Empiricism
• Empiricism - Moderate Empiricism
• Empiricism - Other forms
• Empiricism - Criticisms
• Empiricism - Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
• Empiricism - Constructivism
• Empiricism - Quantum mechanics

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Turya, a concept in Kashmir Shaivism, meaning the fourth state of consciousness. The fourth fundamental state of consciousness (vritti) is the superconsciousness which is characteristic to Spiritual Illumination and divine ecstasy, Samadhi. It is called the fourth because it transcends the other three common states of consciousness: the waking state the dreaming sta ...

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