section_path: Reason compared to related concepts/Logical reasoning methods and argumentation/Inductive reasoning
section_name: Inductive reasoning
paragraph_text: Inductive reasoning
  
  Induction is a form of inference that produces properties or relations about unobserved objects or types based on previous observations or experiences, or that formulates general statements or laws based on limited observations of recurring phenomenal patterns.
  
  Inductive reasoning contrasts with deductive reasoning in that, even in the strongest cases of inductive reasoning, the truth of the premises does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion. Instead, the conclusion of an inductive argument follows with some degree of probability. For this reason also, the conclusion of an inductive argument contains more information than is already contained in the premises. Thus, this method of reasoning is ampliative.
  
  A classic example of inductive reasoning comes from the empiricist David Hume: