Definition talk:Inductive Argument

This definition is so vague as to be all but unusable in its current form. And as for the citation, I got my GEB out and read through Chapter VII (basically an explanation as to how propositional calculus works) and could not find the definition of (or even a reference to) an "inductive argument". Also, it needs to be compared to what a mathematician usually understands an inductive argument to be. Basically, I looked at this page and couldn't make sense of it.

Suggestions for improvement:
 * a) Give an example of an "inductive argument" so as to provide a hook onto which to hang the definition.
 * b) Specify not only the chapter, but the section within that chapter (it's divided neatly into subsections of one page or less) so as to guide the reader into where in the chapter you are looking)
 * c) Provide an instance of proof by mathematical induction so the reader can see what the differences are between that and this. --prime mover 16:49, 26 December 2011 (CST)


 * The main part of it was from Salmon, I was just using GEB as a motivation as to "what the big deal is". I was worried that "types of inductive reasoning" should be on their own page, but I think you're right that I should add them here. I'll do so. --GFauxPas 16:59, 26 December 2011 (CST)


 * After thinking about this for a while I realize that in order to make this concept cleaner I would be better off making "inductive arguments" a category instead of a page, because really it encompasses several types of arguments, each of which can be more clearly addressed individually. I have copied all the data for myself to work on later and chop up into more easily digested pieces: please delete the page. Or does anyone think a definition page would be better than a category? --GFauxPas 10:33, 27 December 2011 (CST)


 * I don't know. How relevant to mathematics is an "inductive argument" anyway? I understand that in applied maths, physics and stats it can have its use, but then I also understand that in these contexts it's a standard technique to quantify your confidence percentage, and there's little room for the kind of "guesswork" that an inductive argument consists of. What's your thoughts on that? --prime mover 14:33, 27 December 2011 (CST)