Abductive Logic: How Is It Different From Inductive Logic And Why Do Textbooks Not Mention It?

[Wannabelifeguard]

So I have read about abductive logic online - you can find it mentioned all over the place. Many websites assert that there are three types of logic - Deductive, Inductive, and Abductive.

 

But i'm confused, I have never come across a textbook that mentions abductive logic. Not only that, but abductive logic appears to be identifcal to a type of Inductive Logic called "Causal Inference". Causal Inference is where an effect is observed and the cause assumed, or a cause is observed and the effect is assumed. So if you spray weedkiller on a weed (cause) you would expect the weed to die (effect). Or alternatively, if you come across a dead weed, you could infer the cause as weedkiller (among other possible explanations).

 

As far as I can tell, this is what abductive logic is as well...

 

The simplest description I have of abductive logic is "if A is true, what else would we expect to see/happen?". That sounds a lot like "If effect A is observed, what cause(s) would we expect to see/happen?".

 

Here is the Stanford Encyclopedia article on Abduction: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abduction/

 

For reference, the six types of Inductive arguments are:

 

1. Prediction

2. Argument from analogy

3. Generalisation

4. Argument from authority

5. Argument based on signs

6. Causal Inference

 

Of course, it would see that there is a lot of disagreement around this as different sources say different things.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Wannabelifeguard