Problem of induction The Problem of Induction is the
philosophical issue involved in deciding the place of induction
in determining empirical truth. Thus, I know from direct
sensations (vision, pain, ...) that you dropped a rock on my
toe. Is it true, however, that a rock dropped on my toe will
always cause pain? You may propose to test this by a series of
dropped rocks, to which I will probably object. But even if you
carried out your plan, would a series of painful swollen toes
demonstrate that dropping rocks on toes always hurts? Such a
conclusion is reached by what is called inductive reasoning ,
but the problem of induction is whether inductive reason works.
That is, what is the justification for either: - generalizing
about the properties of an entire class of objects based on some
number of observations of particular instances of that class of
objects (for example, "All ravens we have seen are black, and
therefore all ravens black"); or - presupposing that a sequence
of events in the future will occur