Inductionism
Sign in to saveInductionism is the scientific philosophy where laws are "induced" from sets of data. As an example, one might measure the strength of electrical forces at varying distances from charges and induce the inverse square law of electrostatics. This concept is considered one of the two pillars of the old view of the philosophy of science, together with verifiability. An application of inductionism can show how experimental evidence can confirm or inductively justify the belief in generalization and the laws of nature.
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4 sectionsContents
- Origin and development
- Opposing views
- See also
- References
Inductionism is the scientific philosophy where laws are "induced" from sets of data. As an example, one might measure the strength of electrical forces at varying distances from charges and induce the inverse square law of electrostatics. This concept is considered one of the two pillars of the old view of the philosophy of science, together with verifiability. An application of inductionism can show how experimental evidence can confirm or inductively justify the belief in generalization and the laws of nature.
== Origin and development == Some aspects of induction has been credited to Aristotle. For example, in Prior Analytics, he proposed an inductive syllogism, which served to establish the primary and immediate proposition. For scholars, this constitutes the principle of demonstrative science. The Greek philosopher, however, did not develop a detailed theory of induction. Some sources even state that the Aristotelian conceptualization of induction is different from its modern mainstream interpretations due to its position that inductive arguments are deductively valid.