Definition
Induction is the process of inferring a general rule from a collection of observed instances. Sometimes it is used more generally to refer to any inference from premises to conclusion where the truth of the conclusion does not follow deductively from the premises, but where the premises provide evidence for the conclusion. In this more general sense, induction includes abduction where facts rather than rules are inferred. (The word “induction” also denotes a different, entirely deductive form of argument used in mathematics.)
Theory
Hume’s Problem of Induction
The problem of induction was famously set out by the great Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume (1711–1776), although he did not actually use the word “induction” in this context. With characteristic bluntness, he argued that:
there can be no demonstrative arguments to prove that those instances of which we have had no experience resemble those of which we have had experience (Hume 1739, Part 3, Section 6).
...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Recommended Reading
Bacchus F, Grove A, Halpern JY, Koller D (1996) From statistical knowledge bases to degrees of belief. Artif Intell 87(1–2):75–143
Carnap R (1950) Logical foundations of probability. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Cussens J (1996) Deduction, induction and probabilistic support. Synthese 108(1):1–10
Howson C, Urbach P (1989) Scientific reasoning: the Bayesian approach. Open Court, La Salle
Hume D (1739) A treatise of human nature, book one (Anonymously published)
Hume D (1740) An abstract of a treatise of human nature. (Anonymously published as a pamphlet). Printed for C. Borbet, London
Lakatos I (1970) Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In: Lakatos I, Musgrave A (eds) Criticism and the growth of knowledge. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 91–196
Popper KR (1959) The logic of scientific discovery. Hutchinson, London (Translation of Logik der Forschung, 1934)
Popper KR, Miller D (1984) The impossibility of inductive probability. Nature 310:434
Popper KR, Miller D (1987) Why probabilistic support is not inductive. Philos Trans R Soc Lond 321: 569–591
Wolpert DH (1992) On the connection between in-sample testing and generalization error. Complex Syst 6: 47–94
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Cussens, J. (2017). Induction. In: Sammut, C., Webb, G.I. (eds) Encyclopedia of Machine Learning and Data Mining. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7687-1_388
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7687-1_388
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7685-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7687-1
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceReference Module Computer Science and Engineering