Abductive arguments help us to decide between competing hypotheses. We might have something that needs to be explained—e.g., a check engine light in our car—and have to choose between different theories (transmission? radiator? electrical problem?). Abductive reasoning refers to the methods and best practices for making such a choice.
Our first resource comes from the Khan Academy/Wireless Philosophy, which is a great explanation of Abductive Arguments:
We have two other resources, the first of which is a fun example of when experiments lead to surprising (well, not so surprising) and conclusive outcomes. Here, a man sets up an experiment to prove the earth is flat, but ends up proving that it’s actaully round. Now that’s a good experiment!
Resources for Course Readings
Our next resources come from Google Notebook LM, which include video and podcast summaries of our two additional readings about abductive arguments: Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking by Matthew Van Cleave and Reasoning for the Digital Age by Amitabha Palme.
Analyses by Frank Saunders Jr 