Preview

David Hume Problem Of Induction

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
683 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
David Hume Problem Of Induction
THE PROBLEM OF INDUCTION
There are two assumptions that are made by induction; firstly that there is no unusual circumstance present and secondly the activity will result in the same experience, experienced in the past. However David Hume says there is a problem with induction as the future does not always have to follow the past. This is because induction is making use of causality but since we cannot see, touch or experience causality we cannot say it exists and this is David Hume’s argument. David Hume says that everything is a constant coincident and that our minds create a causal link because we become so accustomed to the two things happening together that we link the effect to the cause and the past to the future. David Hume further
…show more content…
An example of this is of a pool player. The pool player knows if he hits the white ball in a certain way it will move in a certain direction i.e. if he hits the ball in the centre it will move off in a straight direction, he knows this from his past experience. However, if he hits the ball and it moves to the left it is not illogical. In order for a statement to be considered inductive, it must have one or several premises that lead to a conclusion. For instance, premises used to reach the conclusion “more people drink cow milk than goat milk” might include “grocery stores carry a higher volume of cow milk than goat milk,” or “there are more dairies that have cows than goats.” While these statements may not be able to conclusively prove that more people drink cow milk, they do make the truth of the statement more likely. If an inductive conclusion has a high degree of probability, it is called a strong argument; a conclusion with a low degree of probability is …show more content…
Bias occurs when a person making or evaluating the probability of an argument gives extra weight to or discounts certain premises based on outside circumstances, such as personal experience. If, for instance, a person has been bitten by a poodle, he or she may believe that all poodles are vicious and be less likely to adopt one. Illogical conclusions can occur when all premises are objectively true, but the conclusion drawn from them does not follow logically; for example, while “all poodles are dogs” may be true, it doesn't logically follow that “all dogs are poodles.”

The biggest vulnerability of inductive logic is its inherent uncertainty. Even with strong premises and a logical conclusion, an inductive argument always has the possibility of being untrue. Horse-racing handicappers experience this issue on a regular basis, as even a heavily favored horse with a perfect record and a poor field of opponents can have a bad race and end up last, regardless of the perceived probability of winning. The vulnerability of inductive arguments is also critically important in courtrooms, since few cases provide only deductive and unmistakable

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Within his essay, Solzhenitsyn uses both evidence and reasoning to deliver a case to argue his point. One example of this is his use of inductive…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to our text, Deductive reasoning takes all of the given essentials and uses them and nothing else to structure a conclusion. Deduction is a form of argument that purports to be conclusive. The theory is what concludes to the…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We can recognize bias by finding _ _ _ _ _ _ opinions. Bias is useful…

    • 497 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Powerful Ideas, An Introduction to Philosophy, aesthetics means "coming from the senses" which is a derivitive of the Greek word, aisthetikos (241). David Hume's believed that emotions are significant in both aesthetics and ethics. In addition, he stated that aesthetics involves both contemplation and judgment. He strongly believes that not everyone is suitable or qualify to judge art.…

    • 120 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ap Psychology Unit 6 Essay

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages

    do not match our beliefs. This belief bias can lead us to accept invalid conclusions and…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Weighing considerations often involves both deductive and inductive reasoning. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All Rights Reserved. I shouldn’t get a dog because my landlord won’t allow it in the house and you shouldn’t get a dog if you can’t let it into the house.…

    • 289 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It determines how bias is going to influence critical thinking because there are different types of bias. In the last and most argument that I had recently was about when I bought my van. I did not think much about it because it was coming from my husband’s friend that he has known for many years. My husband and I went to our friend’s house to look at this van because we needed room for all our kids. It was a belief bias that came to the conclusion of what we were buying the van. We believed that there was nothing wrong with it and that we could trust him to not lie to us about it. In the long run, it was a bad idea and we should of test drove it and looked at…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Detecting Media Bias

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In a persuasive case you are annoying to influence someone to think a convinced way based upon facts but it is bias because they are trying to agree…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    David Hume is a renowned Philosopher that has shaped the ideas of cause and effect (causality) as we know them today. He suggested that true cause and effect relationship has to be the result of A causing B. The occurrence of B happening is contingent on the fact that A occurs before B, thus causing B to happen. Since he holds that this is the only rational way to conclude that one thing causes another to happen, he goes as far as to say that human beings will never know the exact cause that takes place in order for B to be the result. Hume comes to this conclusion because he maintains that there are secrete causes that cannot be observed by the human eye, thus it is impossible for humans to rationally conclude that one thing caused another…

    • 1897 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This essay will argue and conclude that a personalised induction would be more effective however, whether a personalised induction will be more effective can somewhat be debatable depending on the goals of the therapy.…

    • 1916 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    For this essay I have been asked to look at and discuss why or why not a personalised induction is more effective.…

    • 1898 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bias is unavoidable, it is seen on tv, business, school and even your home. Bias is a personal opinion about something or someone, supporting that particular thing unfairly. Bias can be used against someone's sexual orientation, social standing, political beliefs or race. Bias in business for example, can be when one chooses to hire nor not hire someone based on their beliefs or race without even taking in mind their experiences, they automatically think that their way is wrong by just basing their opinions on their appearance or beliefs. When you see a homeless person on the streets your viewing on that person is different and make them less than of a person than someone who works, thinking they are lazy and dangerous and should stay away…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She begins her essay by stating that “we” use little or bad evidence to back claims. Schulz says, “…because it turns out, believing things based on meager evidence is what people do” (364). She backed this statement using the Salem witch trials as an example earlier in the chapter. This event showed how people used little to no evidence to convict and execute “guilty” people. Schulz then moves onto her “quiz” which helps prove her claim of inductive reasoning. She explains that inductive reasoning is guessing using past experiences. This helps people solve common sense problems such as her quiz. Inductive reasoning could be used by both types of thinkers. Although Schulz explains that inductive reasoning helps, she says it could be bad. Schulz…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being Biased Analysis

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Many people misinterpret the meaning of being biased. People tend to use the phrase as a way to ruin a person’s credibility or create a way of seeming unreliable when speaking about a certain topic, however in many cases the word biased is used in an improper manner, which causes misinterpretation. A person who is biased is known to believe that their way of thinking and believing, is the only correct way and will not listen to anyone who says differently. However, many people believe that being biased is being strong minded in what they believe in, which is not technically biased, strong minded people listen to what others have to say, and consider it, but still believe they are correct. When a person is biased they criticize other people…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While many rationalists such as René Descartes support the notion that the concept of Inception is not possible, empiricists such as David Hume may think differently. Hume was an eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher known for his system of radical and philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism. In one of his works, Hume stated that one cannot create completely new ideas without either prior knowledge of those ideas, or experiencing those ideas. Put differently, he believed that the ideas of an individual are derived or inspired by other ideas that the individual has observed, because there is no such thing as an “original idea.” Taking Hume’s theory into account, in the movie Inception, the protagonist Dom Cobb teaches his new architect, Ariadne, how dreaming works. In their shared dream, Ariadne comes across Dom’s wife, Mal. While this…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays