Argument and Inference

Argument and Inference
Author: Gregory Johnson
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2017-01-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0262337770

A thorough and practical introduction to inductive logic with a focus on arguments and the rules used for making inductive inferences. This textbook offers a thorough and practical introduction to inductive logic. The book covers a range of different types of inferences with an emphasis throughout on representing them as arguments. This allows the reader to see that, although the rules and guidelines for making each type of inference differ, the purpose is always to generate a probable conclusion. After explaining the basic features of an argument and the different standards for evaluating arguments, the book covers inferences that do not require precise probabilities or the probability calculus: the induction by confirmation, inference to the best explanation, and Mill's methods. The second half of the book presents arguments that do require the probability calculus, first explaining the rules of probability, and then the proportional syllogism, inductive generalization, and Bayes' rule. Each chapter ends with practice problems and their solutions. Appendixes offer additional material on deductive logic, odds, expected value, and (very briefly) the foundations of probability. Argument and Inference can be used in critical thinking courses. It provides these courses with a coherent theme while covering the type of reasoning that is most often used in day-to-day life and in the natural, social, and medical sciences. Argument and Inference is also suitable for inductive logic and informal logic courses, as well as philosophy of sciences courses that need an introductory text on scientific and inductive methods.

Inference in Argumentation

Inference in Argumentation
Author: Eddo Rigotti
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2018-12-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3030045684

This book investigates the role of inference in argumentation, considering how arguments support standpoints on the basis of different loci. The authors propose and illustrate a model for the analysis of the standpoint-argument connection, called Argumentum Model of Topics (AMT). A prominent feature of the AMT is that it distinguishes, within each and every single argumentation, between an inferential-procedural component, on which the reasoning process is based; and a material-contextual component, which anchors the argument in the interlocutors’ cultural and factual common ground. The AMT explains how these components differ and how they are intertwined within each single argument. This model is introduced in Part II of the book, following a careful reconstruction of the enormously rich tradition of studies on inference in argumentation, from the antiquity to contemporary authors, without neglecting medieval and post-medieval contributions. The AMT is a contemporary model grounded in a dialogue with such tradition, whose crucial aspects are illuminated in this book.

Handbook of the Logic of Argument and Inference

Handbook of the Logic of Argument and Inference
Author: R.H. Johnson
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 509
Release: 2002-09-11
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0080532918

The Handbook of the Logic of Argument and Inference is an authoritative reference work in a single volume, designed for the attention of senior undergraduates, graduate students and researchers in all the leading research areas concerned with the logic of practical argument and inference. After an introductory chapter, the role of standard logics is surveyed in two chapters. These chapters can serve as a mini-course for interested readers, in deductive and inductive logic, or as a refresher. Then follow two chapters of criticism; one the internal critique and the other the empirical critique. The first deals with objections to standard logics (as theories of argument and inference) arising from the research programme in philosophical logic. The second canvasses criticisms arising from work in cognitive and experimental psychology. The next five chapters deal with developments in dialogue logic, interrogative logic, informal logic, probability logic and artificial intelligence. The last chapter surveys formal approaches to practical reasoning and anticipates possible future developments. Taken as a whole the Handbook is a single-volume indication of the present state of the logic of argument and inference at its conceptual and theoretical best. Future editions will periodically incorporate significant new developments.

Argument, Inference and Dialectic

Argument, Inference and Dialectic
Author: R.C. Pinto
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2013-03-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9401707839

This volume contains 12 papers addressed to researchers and advanced students in informal logic and related fields, such as argumentation, formal logic, and communications. Among the issues discussed are attempts to rethink the nature of argument and of inference, the role of dialectical context, and the standards for evaluating inferences, and to shed light on the interfaces between informal logic and argumentation theory, rhetoric, formal logic and cognitive psychology.

Reason, Revelation, and Devotion

Reason, Revelation, and Devotion
Author: William J. Wainwright
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2016
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1107062403

The book presents a novel defense of the beneficial epistemic effect that extra logical features can have on the assessment of religious arguments.

Inference to the Best Explanation

Inference to the Best Explanation
Author: Peter Lipton
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2004
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780415242035

Inference to the Best Explanation is an unrivalled exposition of a theory of particular interest to students both of epistemology and the philosophy of science.

Best Explanations

Best Explanations
Author: Kevin McCain
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2017
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0198746903

Twenty philosophers offer new essays examining the form of reasoning known as inference to the best explanation - widely used in science and in our everyday lives, yet still controversial. Best Explanations represents the state of the art when it comes to understanding, criticizing, and defending this form of reasoning.

Choice and Chance

Choice and Chance
Author: Brian Skyrms
Publisher:
Total Pages: 184
Release: 1975
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

Information Theory, Inference and Learning Algorithms

Information Theory, Inference and Learning Algorithms
Author: David J. C. MacKay
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 694
Release: 2003-09-25
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780521642989

Information theory and inference, taught together in this exciting textbook, lie at the heart of many important areas of modern technology - communication, signal processing, data mining, machine learning, pattern recognition, computational neuroscience, bioinformatics and cryptography. The book introduces theory in tandem with applications. Information theory is taught alongside practical communication systems such as arithmetic coding for data compression and sparse-graph codes for error-correction. Inference techniques, including message-passing algorithms, Monte Carlo methods and variational approximations, are developed alongside applications to clustering, convolutional codes, independent component analysis, and neural networks. Uniquely, the book covers state-of-the-art error-correcting codes, including low-density-parity-check codes, turbo codes, and digital fountain codes - the twenty-first-century standards for satellite communications, disk drives, and data broadcast. Richly illustrated, filled with worked examples and over 400 exercises, some with detailed solutions, the book is ideal for self-learning, and for undergraduate or graduate courses. It also provides an unparalleled entry point for professionals in areas as diverse as computational biology, financial engineering and machine learning.