Logical reasoning

Informally, two kinds of logical reasoning can be dis- 2 References

tinguished in addition to formal deduction: induction and
abduction. Given a precondition or premise, a conclusion Menzies, T. Applications of Abduction: Knowledge-
or logical consequence and a rule or material conditional Level Modeling. November 1996
that implies the conclusion given the precondition, one can
explain that:

Deductive reasoning determines whether the truth

of a conclusion can be determined for that rule,
based solely on the truth of the premises. Example:
When it rains, things outside get wet. The grass is
outside, therefore: when it rains, the grass gets wet.
Mathematical logic and philosophical logic are com-
monly associated with this type of reasoning.

Inductive reasoning attempts to support a deter-

mination of the rule. It hypothesizes a rule after nu-
merous examples are taken to be a conclusion that
follows from a precondition in terms of such a rule.
Example: The grass got wet numerous times when
it rained, therefore: the grass always gets wet when
it rains. While they may be persuasive, these argu-
ments are not deductively valid, see the problem of
induction. Science is associated with this type of
reasoning.

Abductive reasoning, a.k.a. inference to the best

explanation, selects a cogent set of preconditions.
Given a true conclusion and a rule, it attempts to
select some possible premises that, if true also, can
support the conclusion, though not uniquely. Exam-
ple: When it rains, the grass gets wet. The grass
is wet. Therefore, it might have rained. This kind
of reasoning can be used to develop a hypothesis,
which in turn can be tested by additional reasoning
or data. Diagnosticians, detectives, and scientists of-
ten use this type of reasoning.

1 See also
Analogy

Argument

Defeasible reasoning

Fallacy

Inference

Reason

1
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