  On the basis of these global views of knowledge in general, Gassendi develops elements of a theory of knowledge and method specific to the scientific endeavor. These elements include the proposal that we attain and justify empirical claims with the greatest warrant by deduction—yet those claims are at root probabilistic. He further proposes that we maintain hypotheses as the basis of scientific reasoning so long as there is empirical evidence for them, however broadly construed. Taken together, these elements constitute a commitment to a hypothetico-deductivism (H-D) which is characteristic of some instances of actual scientific reasoning that Gassendi discusses. This is not a typical or modern species of H-D method, however, firmly wedded as it is to his empiricism. Indeed, Gassendi's method cannot be adequately characterized in its entirety in this fashion, given the several other forms of non-deductive inference that he endorses or makes use of as fundamental to his scientific method, including sign-based inference, analogous reasoning, and inference to the best explanation.