Theory of Knowledge Homework #29 Emls Dlderis 11.

.g Induction, deduction and analogy are all types of reasoning we use to think logically and they are certainly linked together while also different. Induction and deduction are opposites as induction applies the properties of all objects in one set to all objects in a larger set, but deduction applies the properties of objects from a larger set to those of a smaller set within it. The first one is seen as expanding our horizons as we make new generalizations with it, but the second as contracting our area of knowledge a major premise to a certain point the minor premise. Analogy can be seen in this system as the method that links two sets which are both within a larger set. I believe that deduction is the most reliable of these types. If I know a general fact about a set of objects, why wouldnt I be able to say it about any single one of these objects? I have a given premise about the set and as long as these objects are in it, I must be right valid. Many people probably also believe this which is why the saying I know about this stuff like my back yard or my own five fingers is such a popular way to justify an argument. A person using this saying is deducing from his premises. When I own my back yard with my dogs and have an argument with my neighbor who says one of my dogs a Labrador must be sick because all other Labradors in town are, I can still win by opposing him as I know that in my yard everything is O.K., which includes dogs being healthy. This usually wins also if he is saying that my Labrador is sick because it has some symptoms just like his Labrador. No matter if the neighbor used induction or analogy, they proved to be weaker. But which is the weakest? Induction generalizes and analogy equates. For example, of all my schools students some take astronomy and some learn the IB Diploma program, these two sets can be connected in both ways. Using analogy I could state that astronomy students also learn for the Diploma as they all learn in RV1G or vice versa. With induction I could believe that all RV1G students learn astronomy if I only knew students who did. And then this generalization would apply to Diploma students or, again, the other way round if all schools students were believed to study IB. So I would arrive at the same conclusion, only in case of induction I have involved all of the schools students through generalization, but in analogy this new merged set is still kept a part of a bigger set. While both conclusions are false, analogy at least allows students who study neither, leaving induction as the least reliable way of reasoning. Logic always involves seeing patterns in nature and applying them to try to predict the future. As seeing of patterns always comes first, induction plays the main role in searching for knowledge. It concerns experimentation and belief that new laws and patterns are universally true. Analogy plays a similar but smaller role as it only equalizes some examples. Deduction applies and combines these axioms to produce theoretical knowledge.