Cristina's essay, published below, was chosen by the teachers as the best one. It is a philisophy essay that deals with inductive reasoning.
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Inductive
reasoning is the opposite of deductive reasoning. It is a scientific
method and logical process that enables us to to move from individual
instances to to general statements. It starts with specific
observations and continues with the study of patterns or regularities
to formulate hypotheses, which could develop into general theories.
In other words, we go from the specific to the general.
It
enables us to get closer to the truth, however, even if all the
premises were true in a statement, the general conclusion could be
false. This is why inductive reasoning is only used by scientists to
form hypotheses and theories, while deductive reasoning allows them
to test these theories or hypotheses.
Hume
believes there is a conjunction between cause and effect, and that
similar circumstances always produce similar effects. Nevertheless he
does not agree with the common idea of a necessary connection between
the cause and the effect.
Hume
claims that even after we know from experience what the result was in
a particular case, we cannot bring it under a general rule, or to
predict similar cases in the future. For example, if all basketball
players in my school were tall, using the inductive method I would
deduce that all basketball players must be tall. Nevertheless,
everybody can play basketball, despite their height.
Hume
states that we derive our ideaa of power or necessary connection from
a feeling of connection in the mind. This means that when we say that
one event is connected with another, all we mean is that they have
come to be connected in our thoughts.
Karl
Popper gives a solution to the problem of induction and Hume's
problem, which are the same,. Hume's problem was the justification of
induction and Popper's solution to it consisted of replacing
inductive reasoning for the falsification method. We should put down
our hypotheses to critical discussions and empirical testing, trying
to refute or falsify the theory. He claims that all the theories that
have resisted all the attempts to refute them can be considered true.
