Definition
Inferences are steps in logical reasoning, moving from premises to logical consequences. Inference is traditionally divided into deduction and induction, a distinction that dates at least to Aristotle. A third type of inference, abduction, has been proposed, notably by Charles Sanders Peirce. Deduction is inference deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true, with the laws of valid inference being studied in logic. Induction is inference from particular evidence to a universal conclusion. Abduction seeks neither logical certainty nor a universal conclusion but a "best explanation" based on likelihood given the evidence.
Related concepts
A priori and a posterioriAbductive reasoningAbhidharmaAbsolute idealismAcademic SkepticismAchintya Bheda AbhedaAction theory (philosophy)Advaita VedantaAesthetic emotionsAestheticsAfrican philosophyAfricana philosophyAgriculturalismAjñanaAmerican philosophyAnalogyAnalytic philosophyAnalytical MarxismAnalytical feminismAnalytic–synthetic distinctionAnarchismAncient Egyptian philosophyAncient Greek philosophyAncient Roman philosophyAncient philosophyAnekantavadaAntecedent (logic)Anti-realismAntihumanismAntinomyApplied ethicsApplied philosophyArgumentation theoryAristotelianismAristotleArtificial intelligenceArtificial neural networkAtomismAugustinianismAustralian philosophyAutomated theorem provingAverroismAvicennismAxiomAxiom systemAztec philosophyBackward chainingBayes' theoremBayesian decision theoryBayesian inferenceBehaviorismBhedabhedaBritish idealismBritish philosophyBuddhist philosophyBusiness rule engineByzantine philosophyCartesianismCategorical dataChan BuddhismCharles Sanders PeirceCharvakaChinese philosophyChristian philosophyChurch FathersClassical RealismClassical liberalismClassical logicClosed world assumptionCognitive biasCognitive psychologyCoherentismCollectivism and individualismCommand economyCommunitarianismCompatibilismConceptualismConfucianismConsequentConsequentialismConservatismContemporary philosophyContinental philosophyContradictionCritical rationalismCritical theoryCritical thinkingCynicism (philosophy)CyrenaicsCzech philosophyDanish philosophyDavid J. C. MacKayDeconstructionDeductive closureDeductive reasoningDefinitionDeontologyDescriptionDescription logicDeterminismDichotomyDispositioDutch philosophyDvaita VedantaE. T. JaynesEarly modern philosophyEastern philosophyEdo neo-ConfucianismEleaticsEliminative materialismEmergentismEmpiricismEntailmentEpicureanismEpilogismEpiphenomenalismEpistemological particularismEpistemologyEretrian schoolEthicsEthiopian philosophyEvent (philosophy)ExistentialismExperimental philosophyExpert systemFallacyFalsifiabilityFeminist philosophyFideismFormal proofFormal semantics (natural language)Formalism (art)FoundationalismFrankfurt SchoolFree willFrench philosophyFunctionalism (philosophy of mind)Fuzzy logicGerman idealismGerman philosophyHard determinismHard incompatibilismHegelianismHellenistic philosophyHenk TijmsHermeneuticsHindu philosophyHistoricismHistory of logicHistory of philosophyHistory of philosophy in FinlandHistory of philosophy in PolandHolismHuayanHumanismIdealismIlluminationismImage recognitionImmediate inferenceIncompatibilismIndex of logic articlesIndian philosophyIndiana Philosophy Ontology ProjectIndigenous American philosophyIndividualismIndonesian philosophyInductive reasoningInference (album)Inference engineInferential programmingInformal logicInquiryInstitutional theory of artInternalism and externalismIonian School (philosophy)Iranian philosophyIslamic philosophyItalian idealismItalian philosophyJain philosophyJapanese philosophyJewish philosophyJohn RawlsJudeo-Islamic philosophies (800–1400)KalamKantianismKnowledge baseKokugakuKorean ConfucianismKorean philosophyKrausismKyoto SchoolLegal positivismLegalism (Chinese philosophy)Libertarianism (metaphysics)Linguistic entailmentList of Boolean algebra topicsList of Slovene philosophersList of Turkish philosophersList of fallaciesList of logic symbolsList of logiciansList of mathematical logic topicsList of paradoxesList of rules of inferenceList of set theory topicsLogicLogic in computer scienceLogic of informationLogical assertionLogical consequenceLogical formLogical graphLogical positivismLogical reasoningLogical truthLudwig WittgensteinMadhyamakaMarxist philosophyMaterialismMathematical logicMazdakismMedieval philosophyMegarian schoolMeta-ethicsMetalogicMetamathematicsMetaphilosophyMetaphysical naturalismMetaphysicsMiddle Eastern philosophyMiddle PlatonismMind–body dualismMithraismModern philosophyModernismMohismMonismMonotonicity of entailmentMoral absolutismMoral nihilismMoral particularismMoral realismMoral skepticismMoral universalismMoscowMīmāṃsāNameNatural language processingNatural lawNaturalism (philosophy)Naturalized epistemologyNavya-NyāyaNecessity and sufficiencyNeo-ConfucianismNeo-KantianismNeo-MarxismNeo-scholasticismNeoplatonismNeopythagoreanismNew ConfucianismNew historicismNewtonianismNihilismNimbarka SampradayaNominalismNon-classical logicNon-monotonic logicNonmonotonic logicNorm (philosophy)Normative ethicsNyayaObjective idealismObjectivismObjectivity (philosophy)ObservationsOccamismOntologyOrdinary language philosophyOutline of logicOutline of philosophyPakistani philosophyParadoxParticularPeripatetic schoolPeter NorvigPhenomenology (philosophy)PhilPapersPhilip Johnson-LairdPhilosophical logicPhilosophical methodologyPhilosophical pessimismPhilosophical realismPhilosophical skepticismPhilosophyPhilosophy in CanadaPhilosophy in MaltaPhilosophy in TaiwanPhilosophy of Friedrich NietzschePhilosophy of Søren KierkegaardPhilosophy of educationPhilosophy of informationPhilosophy of languagePhilosophy of logicPhilosophy of mathematicsPhilosophy of mindPhilosophy of religionPhilosophy of sciencePhysicalismPlatoPlatonic AcademyPolitical philosophyPositivismPost-structuralismPostanalytic philosophyPostcritiquePosthumanismPostmodern philosophyPractical philosophyPragmatismPre-Socratic philosophyPredicate calculusPremiseProbabilityProcess philosophyProgramming languagePrologPropositionPudgalavadaPyrrhonismPythagoreanismQuietism (philosophy)RationalismRealityReasonReasoning systemReductionismReferenceReformed epistemologyRelativismRelevanceRenaissance humanismRenaissance philosophyRomanian philosophyRule of inferenceRussian cosmismRussian philosophySamkhyaSarvastivadaSautrāntikaScholasticismSchool of NamesSchool of NaturalistsSchool of the SextiiScientific realismScientific skepticismScientismScotismScottish philosophySecond SophisticSemantic webSemantics of logicSet theoryShuddhadvaitaSiberiaSoccerSocial constructionismSocial contractSocial philosophySocialismSocratesSolipsismSophistSoviet UnionSpanish philosophySpinozismStatement (logic)Statistical inferenceStoicismStructuralismStuart J. RussellSubjective idealismSubjectivismSubsetSubstitution (logic)Sufi philosophySvatantrika–Prasaṅgika distinctionSyllogismSymbologySyntax (logic)SystemicsSyādvādaTaoismTheoremTheoretical philosophyThomismTiantaiTibetan BuddhismTransactionalismTranscendental idealismTranscendentalismTransduction (machine learning)TruthUbuntu philosophyUniversal (metaphysics)UtilitarianismVaisheshikaValidity (logic)Value theoryVedantaVienna CircleVietnamese philosophyVirtue ethicsVishishtadvaitaWeb Ontology LanguageWestern MarxismWestern philosophyXuanxueYangismYoga Sutras of PatanjaliYogacharaYugoslav philosophyZenZoroastrianismZurvanismĀjīvikaŚūnyatā
62 concepts already in your glossary