Deductive

&
Inductive Arguments

What is Deductive Arguments?

If the premises when true succeed in
making
its
conclusion
certain,
the
argument is valid. If the premises when
true fail to make its conclusion certain, the
argument is invalid.
Premise 1 - All mammals have lungs.
Premise 2 - All whales are mammals.
Conclusion - Therefore all whales have lungs.

There is no possible way for the premises to

be true and yet the conclusion false. But
consider:

Premise 1 - All eight-legged creatures have wings.

Premise 2 - A spider is an eight-legged creature.
Conclusion - Therefore spiders have wings.

Now consider an argument with true premises

and a true conclusion that is invalid:

Premise 1 - If I owned all the gold in Fort Knox, I

would be wealthy.
Premise 2 - I do not own all the gold in Fort Knox.
Conclusion - Therefore I am not wealthy.

A valid deductive argument with true premises is a

sound argument. A sound argument is often called a
proof, but this term can be misleading. If the
premises themselves are absolutely certain, then a
sound argument does indeed offer proof, as in the
below example:
Premise 1 - All bachelors are unmarried.
Premise 2 - All bachelors are male.
Conclusion - Therefore all bachelors are
unmarried males.

However, consider:

Premise 1 - All bachelors are unmarried.

Premise 2 - Luke is a bachelor.
Conclusion - Therefore Luke is unmarried.

What is Inductive arguments?

Inductive arguments do not try to establish their
conclusions with certainty. Instead, an inductive
argument claims that its premises make the
conclusion probable. Inductive arguments cannot
be valid or invalid. Instead, they are weak or
strong, better or worse. And even when the
premises are true and provide very strong
support for the conclusion, the conclusion cannot
be certain. The strongest inductive argument is
not as conclusive as a sound deductive
argument.

Premise 1 : Most dogs have flies.

Premise 2 : Bob is a dog.
Conclusion : Therefore Bob probably have a
flies.

Premise 1 : 98 % of Snails are Slimy

Premise 2 : there is a snail in my garden
Conclusion : Therefore that the snail in my
garden is highly likely to be slimy

Summary :
A deductive argument claims that its
premises make its conclusion certain.
an inductive argument claims that its
premises merely make its conclusion
probable.