Reasoning
Reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for reasons for beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings. Humans engage in reasoning to understand causal relationships, make predictions, make decisions, and solve problems. The main types of reasoning include inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, and abductive reasoning.
Types of Reasoning[edit | edit source]
Deductive Reasoning[edit | edit source]
Deductive reasoning, also known as top-down reasoning, starts with a general statement or hypothesis and examines the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion. The scientific method uses deduction to test hypotheses and theories.
Inductive Reasoning[edit | edit source]
Inductive reasoning, also known as bottom-up reasoning, makes broad generalizations from specific observations. Even if all of the premises are true in a statement, inductive reasoning allows for the conclusion to be false.
Abductive Reasoning[edit | edit source]
Abductive reasoning, starts with an incomplete set of observations and proceeds to the likeliest possible explanation for the set. Abductive reasoning is often used in the fields of medical and scientific research.
Importance of Reasoning[edit | edit source]
Reasoning is used in many areas of life, such as in science to create hypotheses and theories, in law to evaluate evidence and arguments, in medicine to diagnose diseases, and in everyday life to make decisions and solve problems.
See Also[edit | edit source]
| Reasoning Resources | |
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References[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Inductive Reasoning
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Deductive and Inductive Arguments
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