deductive reasoning
From general, specific
Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from premises assumed to be true.
If the premises hold and the logic is valid, the conclusion must follow: All mammals are warm-blooded; whales are mammals; therefore whales are warm-blooded.
This contrasts with inductive reasoning, which generalizes from specific observations to broader principles.
Formal deductive argument structure
- premiseFoundation for logical argument
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- validityQuality of being sound
- propositionalOf logical statements
categorical · formal logic · soundness · antecedent · consequent · conditional · negation · contrapositive
End or deduction
- premiseFoundation for logical argument
- entailmentLogical necessity from premises
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
- derivationSource or origin tracing
corollary · theorem · proof · certainty · necessity · analysis · argument · rationale
Statistical method for evaluating claims
- eliminationAct of removing entirely
- process of eliminationSolving by removing impossibilities
- diagnosisIdentification of illness
- troubleshootingSystematic fault diagnosis
Sherlock Holmes · ruling out · systematic · methodical · analytical · detective work · forensic · investigation
syllogism
Formal deductive argument structure
- premiseFoundation for logical argument
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- validityQuality of being sound
propositional · categorical · formal logic · soundness · antecedent · consequent · conditional · negation · contrapositive · universal
conclusion
End or deduction
- premiseFoundation for logical argument
- entailmentLogical necessity from premises
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
derivation · corollary · theorem · proof · certainty · necessity · analysis · argument · rationale · consequence
hypothesis testing
Statistical method for evaluating claims
- eliminationAct of removing entirely
- process of eliminationSolving by removing impossibilities
- diagnosisIdentification of illness
Sherlock Holmes · troubleshooting · ruling out · systematic · methodical · analytical · detective work · forensic · investigation · problem-solving
- cognitionthinking, thought, cognition, remembering, memory retrieval
- thinking skillslogic, logical thinking, critical thinking, analytical thinking, analysis
- Greek scienceAristotle, Archimedes, Euclid, Ptolemy, Hippocrates
- logicpremise, premises, conclusion, conclusions, inference
- argument termsad hominem, evidence, straw man, proof, appeal to emotion
- cognitive developmentsensorimotor, preoperational, object permanence, accommodation, equilibration
deductive reasoningempiricism
Knowledge through observation
empirical observation · trial and error · experimental method · sensory experience · case study method
deductive reasoningintuition
Instinctive immediate understanding
gut feeling · intuitive thinking · pattern recognition · instinct · snap judgment
reason, reasoning, deduction, deduce, deducing, deductive, deduced, deductively, deducible