Reason is usually considered the most reliable and clearest way of knowing. When we encounter new situations, we attempt to solve them with the knowledge that we have already accumulated. the safest, clearest and most economic way of knowing things that has already been discovered, and are part of human certain knowledge. Even we encounter new situations and seek to resolve them for the first time resort of our accumulated knowledge and experience for specific insightfulness and wisdom. The idea behind reason remains the same, that a conclusion is formed based off of previous knowledge and logic. While the other ways of knowing are subject to change, such as emotion and language, reason remains rather stable.
Reasoning is dependent on both truth and validity These two words are often used as the same thing, but really they are not. Truth refers to what is the case, validity on the other hand, whether the conclusion that is made through reasoning, follows the premises. If it makes logical sense, an argument is valid. However, not all arguments that are valid are true. Logical conclusions are free of emotion and feelings, and are therefore not subjective. However, as we are human, our subjectivity always plays a role and therefore bias can occur still. The ability to reason is considered a definitive human characteristic and it is being discussed wether or not animals have the ability to reason.There are two forms of reasoning that can be applied; deductive and inductive reasoning.
Deductive Reasoning
Deductive reasoning is reasoning that moves from general to particular. This means that one takes information one knows about something general and applies this to a particular thing.
All dogs are mammals.
Scooter is a dog.
Therefore Scooter is a mammal.
This claim is considered a syllogism. A syllogism consists of certain parts. Firstly, two premises and a conclusion are necessary. Three terms, each of which occur twice (in this case Scooter, mammals and dog) and lastly a quantifier, which tells us what quantity is being referred to.
The danger of belief bias becomes limited with the utilization of venn diagrams. This means categorizing groups and placing them in format of a venn diagram. This visualizes the concept. Belief bias is the tendency to believe that an argument is valid, merely because we agree with the conclusion. Belief bias is often related to stereotyping and generalizing. For example. if one says
Democrats are in favor of free speech.
Dictators are not democrats.
Therefore dictators are not in favor of free speech.
Your experience and belief may lead you to assume the conclusion is true, however, the assumption is not valid, because the syllogism is not valid.
Inductive Reasoning
Inductive reasoning on the other hand refers to the opposite of this. It goes in the opposite direction, from the particular to the general.The example most relative to this concept is:
All observed human beings have died.
Therefore all human beings die.
This type of reasoning often leads to stereotyping and generalization. Since so much of the world is unobserved, we make conclusions about it, from that which we have observed. This also enables us to make decisions about the future that make logical sense, for example regarding school and work. A phenomenon that we consider confirmation bias is a fallacy that can occur with inductive reasoning. It refers to the tendency to make hasty generalizations as a result of inductive reasoning. This can often occur with religions and culture as we only have contact with a certain amount of people from a larger group and often conclude about the rest. This may lead to racism and ignorance. Henry David Thoreau once stated "All generalizations are false - including this one". He is hereby criticizing
Deduction Induction
Reasoning from general to particular Reasoning from particular to general
More certain, but less informative More informative, but less certain
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