Editing Abductive reasoning (section)

=== Induction ===
{{Main|Inductive reasoning}}
Inductive reasoning is the process of inferring some ''general'' principle <math>b</math> from a body of knowledge <math>a</math>, where <math>b</math> does not necessarily follow from <math>a</math>. <math>a</math> might give us very good reason to accept <math>b</math> but does not ensure <math>b</math>. For example, if it is given that 95% percent of the elephants are gray, and Louise is an elephant, one can ''induce'' that Louise is gray. Still, this is not necessarily the case: 5 percent of the time this conclusion will be wrong.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Douven |first=Igor |title=Abduction |date=2021 |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/abduction/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |edition=Summer 2021 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}}</ref>

However, an inference being derived from statistical data is not sufficient to classify it as inductive. For example, if all swans that a person has observed so far are white, they may instead ''abduce'' the possibility that all swans are white. They have good reason to believe the conclusion from the premise because it is the ''best explanation'' for their observations, and the truth of the conclusion is still not guaranteed. (Indeed, it turns out that [[Black swan|some swans are black]].)<ref name=":0" />