DEDUCTION
Charles François (2004). DEDUCTION, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 840.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 840 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
A rigorously logical thought process that consist in reaching a conclusion in a specific issue , based on precisely stated general principles.
The classical example is: “Men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Thus, he is mortal”.
The conditions of applicability of the deductive method should be however carefully scrutinised, because they imply:
- the “et ceteris paribus ” principle: only really similar issues can be correctly treated in a deductive way
- the admission in each case of the validity of the general determinism implicit in the applied principles
See also
Abduction, Induction, Inference