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Preferred term

abduction and inference to the best explanation  

Definition

  • Abduction, or—as it is more commonly called nowadays—inference to the best explanation, is one of three major types of inference, the other two being deduction and induction. The distinction between deduction, on the one hand, and induction and abduction, on the other, corresponds to the distinction between necessary and nonnecessary inferences. [Source: Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Social Sciences; Abduction and Inference to the Best Explanation]

Broader concept

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URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/N9J-NG9D53W7-P

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