Editing Inductive reasoning (section)

{{Short description|Method of logical reasoning}}
{{Redirect-distinguish-text|Inductive inference|[[mathematical induction]], which is actually a form of deductive rather than inductive reasoning}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

'''Inductive reasoning''' refers to a variety of [[method of reasoning|methods of reasoning]] in which the conclusion of an argument is supported not with deductive certainty, but with some degree of probability.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Inductive Logic |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-inductive/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |language=en-US|url-status=live }}</ref> Unlike [[Deductive reasoning|''deductive'' reasoning]] (such as [[mathematical induction]]), where the conclusion is ''certain'', given the premises are correct, inductive reasoning produces conclusions that are at best ''[[probable]]'', given the evidence provided.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Copi |first1=I.M. |last2=Cohen |first2=C. |last3=Flage |first3=D.E. |year=2006 |title=Essentials of Logic |edition=Second |location=Upper Saddle River, NJ |publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=978-0-13-238034-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Bertrand |title=Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits |date=1948 |publisher=George Allen and Unwin |location=London |page=450 |author1-link=Bertrand Russell }}</ref>