Induction is a form of reasoning from the particular example to the general rule. However, establishing the truth of a general proposition is problematic, because it is always possible that a conflicting observation to occur. This problem is known as the induction problem. The sunrise problem is a quintessential example of the induction problem, which was first introduced by Laplace (1814). However, in Laplaces solution, a zero probability was assigned to the proposition that the sun will rise forever, regardless of the number of observations made. Therefore, it has often been stated that complete confidence regarding a general proposition can never be attained via induction. In this study, we attempted to overcome this skepticism by using a recently developed theoretically consistent procedure. The findings demonstrate that through induction, one can rationally gain complete confidence in propositions based on scientific theory.
Download