What is deductive argument? - Definition from WhatIs.com

A deductive argument is the presentation of statements that are assumed or known to be true as premises for a conclusion that necessarily follows from those ... Home Topics Topics DataanalyticsandAI deductiveargument Sharethisitemwithyournetwork: By TechTargetContributor Adeductiveargumentisthepresentationofstatementsthatareassumedorknowntobetrueaspremisesforaconclusionthatnecessarilyfollowsfromthosestatements.Deductivereasoningreliesonwhatisassumedtobeknowntoinfertruthsaboutsimilarlyrelatedconclusions. Inreality,fewstatementscanbesaid tobetrue with100percentcertainty.Theclassicdeductiveargument,forexample, goesbacktoantiquity:Allmenaremortal,andSocratesisaman;thereforeSocratesismortal.However,althoughallmenhavehistoricallybeenmortal(havedied,thatis),wecannotknowifsomemanlivingnoworinthefuturewillliveforever.Similarly,althoughitseemssafetoassumethatSocratesisaman,wecannotknowforcertainthatheisnotanextraterrestrialbeingoraphantom.Nevertheless,thosepremisesaresufficientlystrongtosupporttheconclusion. Theprovabilityofanargumentthroughdeductivereasoningreliesonthetruthofitsassumedpremises.Theargumentmaybevalidorinvalid,independentlyofwhethertheyaresound.Theargument’svaliditydependsonwhethertheconclusionnaturallyfollowsfromthepremises.Ifthestatementsofferedaspremisesaretrue,andtheconclusionfollowsnaturallyfromthosepremises,thenadeductiveargumentisconsideredtobevalid. Adeductiveargumentcanbeinvalidatedbyafalseassumptionasastartingpoint.Beforeadeductivelyreasonedargumentcanbetotallyprovenwrong,bothitssupportingpremisesanditsconclusionmustbeprovenfalse.Untilallaredisproven,itcanbeassumedoneofthestatementsisfalseorfalselyappliediftheargumentitselfisprovenfalse.  Incontrast,aninductiveargumentissampledfrominstancesofsupportingevidencethatcan'tbefullyproventruebutcanbeconsideredtosupplysupportfortheconclusion.Aninductiveargumentcanbedisprovenbyasinglenegativesample.Wheredeductivereasoningtakesexistingpremisestoinferanexistingorpastcondition,inductivereasoningtakesevidencefromthepastorpresenttosupportaconclusionofafutureprediction. Seealso:criticalthinking ThiswaslastupdatedinFebruary2017 ContinueReadingAboutdeductiveargument Testyourknowledgeofdeductivearguments KhanAcademycoversdeductivearguments TopskillsforITmanagers:Criticalthinkingandproblemsolving Applyingthescientificmethodtosoftwaretesting RelatedTerms dataclassification Dataclassificationistheprocessoforganizingdataintocategoriesthatmakeitiseasytoretrieve,sortandstoreforfuture... See complete definition databasemanagementsystem(DBMS) Adatabasemanagementsystem(DBMS)issystemsoftwareforcreatingandmanagingdatabases,allowingenduserstocreate,protect... See complete definition userbehavioranalytics(UBA) Userbehavioranalytics(UBA)isthetracking,collectingandassessingofuserdataandactivitiesusingmonitoringsystems. 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