What is induction?
Q: What is induction?
A: Induction is one of the main forms of logical reasoning, where a general rule is found by using a large number of particular cases.
Q: What are two examples of how induction has been used in science?
A: Two examples of how induction has been used in science include early civilisations observing the regularity that the sun, moon and stars appear to move across the sky, which led to heliocentrism being proposed as an alternative theory or hypothesis; and Darwin's work collecting facts about animals and plants which eventually led to his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Q: What did Hume say about induction?
A: Hume said that induction meant “instances of which we have had no experience resemble those of which we have had experience”.
Q: Who was John Stuart Mill and what did he ask regarding inductions?
A: John Stuart Mill was a philosopher who raised the question “Why is a single instance, in some cases, sufficient for a complete induction, while in others [many examples] go such a little way towards establishing a universal proposition?”
Q: How can we distinguish good from bad inductions?
A: We can distinguish good from bad inductions by asking "If all known As are B, then probably all As whatever are B".
