INDUCTIVE+REASONING

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How do you decide whether the letter should be above or below the line? **A E F H I K L M N**
 * STARTERS**

Complete the statement: In ToK lessons we always ...
 *  B C D G J O P **


 * GENERALISED STATEMENTS**
 * 1) All birds lay eggs
 * 2) All bachelors are unmarried
 * 3) All libraries have books
 * 4) All Dulwich students wear uniform
 * 5) All metals expand when heated
 * 6) No professional footballers go to university
 * 7) Every night I sleep
 * 8) There are no snakes in Ireland
 * 9) History never repeats itself
 * 10) All dogs can bark
 * 11) No even numbers are prime, apart from 2
 * 12) All football hooligans are male
 * 13) Every even number greater than two is the sum of two prime numbers
 * 14) Everybody dies
 * 15) An apple a day keeps the doctor away
 * 16) The piece of furniture you eat a meal from is called a "table"
 * 17) Generalisations are always wrong
 * 18) The farmer feeds the turkeys every day


 * Choose one of the statements above:**
 * Is it true?
 * Give a reason for believing it.
 * Give some reasons for possibly disbelieving it.

PRINCIPLE OF INDUCTION: Reasoning from the particular to the general statement. Eg: all the crows I have ever seen or heard about are black, therefore all crows are black. INDUCTIVE REASONING SUMMARY [|Inductive reasoning.docx] - a one-page summary THE RET TEST [|RET test.docx] - judging the evidence used in logical arguments: Relevant - Enough - True

TIMES WHEN INDUCTION WORKS: If you see enough examples of something. But what is 'enough'? When your examples look at many different circumstances. But how many? When you look actively for exceptions (counter-examples) to the rule. How? If the statement is unusual, seek more examples. What is unusual? Consider the area of knowledge: natural sciences may be more reliable than human sciences. But why?

Can you save inductive reasoning by explaining away exceptions? Can you save it by qualifying the statements Insufficient examples Correct by definition Problems of Language Counter-examples Lack of certainty Everyday life Science and inductive logic
 * POINTS OF DISCUSSION**

Role of induction in deductive premises Is induction common sense?

We live our lives making assumptions based on inductive reasoning. Identify an example of inductive reasoning you have made in:
 * DO YOU INDUCT?**
 * Language
 * Sense perception
 * Emotion
 * Mathematics
 * Science
 * Humanities
 * Arts
 * Ethics
 * History
 * School life