The Problem of Induction
Updated 2026-09-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The problem of induction asks what makes it valid to infer from what has been observed to what has not. Seeing that a certain bread has always been nourishing seems to support that the next piece will be too, but this leap from observed to unobserved is neither deductively valid nor provable by experience without circularity, as David Hume argued.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Audit predictions: check whether a conclusion rests on the unproven premise that the future resembles the past. - Spot circularity: ask whether the premise is derived from the conclusion itself. - Assess analogy: judge whether sample and target are of the same kind, avoiding hasty generalization.
Anchor fast decisions
Hume's argument is that inductive inference depends on the premise that nature is uniform, and that premise can be established neither by deduction, since its denial is not contradictory, nor by induction, since that would be circular. Induction is therefore justified neither deductively nor inductively, and in practice we rely on custom without rational grounds.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- plato.stanford.eduhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/induction-problem/verified
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