[Inquiry] Re: Examples Of Inquiry -- Discussion

[Jon Awbrey]

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EOI.  Discussion Note 21

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JA = Jon Awbrey
TG = Tom Gollier

Re: EOI 14.  http://stderr.org/pipermail/inquiry/2004-November/001908.html
In: EOI.     http://stderr.org/pipermail/inquiry/2004-November/thread.html#1704

TG: I think you've caught the nub of our prior disagreements when you write:

JA: We need a word to cover all three uses of the later type of figure -- 
    abductive, deductive, inductive -- since "syllogism" refers to the 
    deductive use alone, and so I will experiment with using the word 
    "syzygy" to cover all three ways of reading the same configuration. 

TG: For, to my way of thinking it is precisely the syllogistic or deductive
    element that puts the teeth, such as they have any, in all the means of
    inference.  Thus, what makes abduction valid to the extent it is is the
    fact it provides an explanation.  What makes induction valid to the
    extent it is is not analogy (or an inane repetition of white swans)
    but the fact the middle term or mediating concept can function
    deductively and successfully with all sorts of consequents and
    applied in all sorts of situations.  Thus, to come up with a
    word [that] eliminates deduction, or to restrict deductions
    to formal systems only marginally related to the actual
    experience, effectively pulls Peirce's teeth.

No, I think that you sum up the situation quite well, and I concur with
the way that you derive the approximate validity of Ab- and In- duction
from the exact validity of the corresponding Deduction.  More important,
I think that Peirce, and so far as I remember, Aristotle, would roughly
agree with your derivation.  So no root canals are in the offing so far.
I simply found that I had a recurring need for a word that referred to
a particular set of premisses, while being equipotential or neutral in
regard to its reading as an Ab-, or a De-, or an In- ductive inference.

Once again you have caught just before it's time to go to dinner ---
But I promise to come back re-victualized for your questings ...

Jon Awbrey

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inquiry e-lab: http://stderr.org/pipermail/inquiry/
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