Question

Select the statement that is true of inductive arguments.

• a.)

  Hypothetical arguments are considered to be inductive arguments.

• b.)

  Inductive arguments never intend logical certainty, only probability.

• c.)

  Inductive reasoning is rarely used because most reasoning is deductive.

• d.)

  Inductive arguments are less reasonable than deductive arguments.

Answer 1

Option d.) "Inductive arguments are less reasonable than the deductive arguments" is the true statement about the inductive arguments because inductive arguments are used to reach a general conclusion from specific observations; they may sometimes fail to give you the correct result because the reasoning is not so sound as in deductive arguments. For example: if we observe that one fish in a pond is diseased and then observe that 10 of them are diseased and then we see that 1000 are diseased so according to inductive reasoning we may conclude that all fish in the pond are diseased. But if the pond has 1 million fish then our there may be some fish wich may not be diseased. While, on the other hand, if we know that all million fish of the pond are diseased then it's very reasonable to conclude that a particular fish will be certainly diseased.

Option a.) is incorrect because inductive arguments are based on real observations.

Option b.) is incorrect because inductive arguments intend logical certainty in some cases. For example: if we observe that 3×2=6 gives and even number and conclude tha all odd numbers, when multiplied by 2, give even numbers then it's logically certain.

Option c.) is incorrect because both the reasoning are used equally in different fields of life.