Skip to main content

Induction

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy
  • 9 Accesses

Abstract

Induction is a form of non-demonstrative reasoning which proceeds by enumerations of singular cases in order to form a universal proposition which subsumes all of these cases. The problem of induction as a scientific method lies in the jump from the particular to the universal. The problem can be distinguished threefold. (1) What is the logical form of such an argument? (How many observations are needed? If the enumeration is not complete, how is this incompleteness supplemented?) (2) Upon what does the nomological regularity rest that is the basis of the inductive approach? (3) What type of certainty can provide a rationale for induction if it cannot claim to be necessary?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 999.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 849.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Bibliography

Primary Sources

  • Aquinas, T. (1964). In Aristotelis libros Posteriorum analyticorum. Expositio cum textu ex recensione Leonina (ed.: Spiazzi, R.). Roma: Marietti.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, R. (1928). The opus majus of Roger Bacon (ed. and trans. Belle Burke, R.). London/Oxford: University of Pensylvania Press/H. Milford/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buridan, J. (1518). Questiones in metaphysicam Aristotelis. Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duns Scot, J. (1954). Ordinatio. In Opera omnia (Vol. 3, pp. 123–172). Civitas Vaticana: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis (L. I, d. 3, q. 4: Utrum aliqua veritas certa et sincera possit naturaliter cognosci ab intellectu viatoris absque lucis increati speciali illustratione).

    Google Scholar 

  • Duns Scot, J. (1997). Quaestiones in metaphysicam. In Opera philosophica III (Vol. 1). St. Bonaventure: The Franciscan Institute

    Google Scholar 

  • Grosseteste, R. (1981). Commentarium in posteriorum analyticorum libros (ed.: Rossi, P.). Firenze: L. S. Olschki.

    Google Scholar 

  • John of Salisbury. (1929). Metalogicon libri III (ed.: Webb, C. C. J.). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholas of Autrecourt. Exigit ordo executionis et Quaestio Utrum visio creature rationalis beatificabilis per Verbum possit intendi naturaliter: O’Donnell, J. R. (1939). Nicholas of Autrecourt. Mediaeval Studies, 1, 179–280; Kennedy, L. A., Arnold, R. E., & Millward, A. E. (1971). The universal treatise. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press (traduction anglaise de Exigit ordo executionis).

    Google Scholar 

Secondary Sources

  • Bos, E. P. (1993). A contribution to the history of theories of induction in the middle ages. In K. Jacobi (Ed.), Argumentationstheorie: scholastische Forschungen zu den logischen und semantischen Regeln korrekten Folgerns (pp. 553–576). Leiden/New York: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, E. (1968). Probability and opinion. A study in the medieval presuppositions of post-medieval theories of probability. The Hague: M. Nijhoff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carton, R. (1981). L’expérience physique chez Roger Bacon. Contribution à l’étude de la méthode la science expérimentale au xiiiesiècle. Paris: Vrin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, J. (2001). The science of conjecture. Evidence and probability before Pascal. Baltimore/London: John Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grellard, C. (2006). Evidência ou probabilidade? Os debates acerca da justificação da indução no século XIV. Cadernos de Historia e Filosofia da Ciência, 16, 411–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hacking, I. (1975). The emergence of probability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, S. (2004). Robert Grosseteste on light, truth and experimentum. Vivarium, 42(2), 151–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sereene, E. F. (1979). Robert Grosseteste on induction and demonstrative science. Synthese, 40, 97–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg, J. R. (1965). Abstraction, relation and induction. Three essays in the history of thought. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature B.V.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Grellard, C. (2020). Induction. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1665-7_240

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics