Inductive logic is about risky arguments. It analyses inductive arguments using probability. There are other kinds of risky arguments. There is inference to the best explanation, and there are arguments based on testimony.
Valid arguments are risk-free. Inductive logic studies risky arguments. A risky argument can be a very good one, and yet its conclusion can be false, even when the premises are true. Most of our arguments are risky.
Begin with the big picture. The Big Bang theory of the origin of our universe is well supported by present evidence, but it could be wrong. That is a risk.
We now have very strong evidence that smoking causes lung cancer. But the reasoning from all that evidence to the conclusion “smoking causes lung cancer” is still risky. It might just turn out that people predisposed to nicotine addiction are also predisposed to lung cancer, in which case our inference, that smoking causes lung cancer, would be in question after all.
After a lot of research, a company concludes that it can make a profit by marketing a special left-handed mouse for personal computers. It is taking a risk.
You want to be in the same class as your friend Jan. You reason that Jan likes mathematics, and so will take another logic class. You sign up for inductive logic. You have made a risky argument.
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