{"id":84664,"date":"2020-04-27T16:12:52","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T22:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=84664"},"modified":"2020-04-27T17:48:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T23:48:39","slug":"abductive-reasoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html","title":{"rendered":"“Abductive Reasoning”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Peirce,<\/a>
C. S. Peirce (1839-1914) in 1859, the year of his graduation from Harvard
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled \u201cImagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics,\u201d<\/a> to which what I\u2019ll cite below has considerable relevance. \u00a0In response to that entry, two readers called my attention to an essay by the late biochemist, novelist, and otherwise phenomenally prolific writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), perhaps titled \u201cEureka!\u201d \u00a0\u201cThe most exciting phrase to hear in science,\u201d Asimov apparently wrote, \u201cthe one that heralds new discoveries, is not \u2018Eureka!\u2019 but \u2018That\u2019s funny . . .\u2019 \u201d \u00a0And that, too, is relevant to what appears below.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m citing notes from Alister E. McGrath, A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology<\/em> (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), where he is talking about the late, great American philosopher and logician Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914):<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Peirce holds that scientific thinking is characterized by a specific form of \u201cabductive inference,\u201d which can be set out as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

The surprising fact, C<\/em>, is observed.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if A<\/em> were true, C<\/em> would be a matter of course.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hence, there is reason to suspect that A<\/em> is true. \u00a0(45)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A \u201csurprising fact\u201d designates an observation which is not covered by expectations arising from or generated by established beliefs. \u00a0(46)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tragically short-lived American philosopher of science Norwood Hanson<\/a> (1924-1967) laid out what he regarded as three common features in \u201cthe logic of scientific discovery\u201d:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0The observation of some \u201csurprising\u201d or \u201castonishing phenomena,\u201d which represent anomalies within existing ways of thinking. \u00a0This \u201castonishment\u201d may arise because the observations are in conflict with existing theoretical accounts.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The realization that these phenomena would not seem to be astonishing if a certain hypothesis (or set of hypotheses) H<\/em> pertained. \u00a0Those observations would be expected on the basis of H, which would act as an explanation for them. \u00a0<\/span>[It\u2019s easy to see possible connections here with Bayesian analysis. -dcp]<\/li>\n
  3. There is therefore good reason for proposing that H<\/em> be considered to be correct. \u00a0(46)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Abduction is thus to be considered as a distinct form of logical inference, which can be thought of as the \u201conly kind of argument which starts a new idea\u201d or as \u201cthe process of forming explanatory hypotheses.\u201d \u00a0It consists of an \u201cact of insight\u201d that \u201ccomes to us like a flash.\u201d \u00a0Peirce\u2019s language here suggests that abduction can be compared to the creative and aesthetic dimensions of human reflection in which the explanatory hypothesis \u201chas to be invented ex novo<\/em>,\u201d in an act of creative imagination as much as of rational analysis.\u201d \u00a0Indeed, Peirce himself notes that at times \u201cabductive inference shades into perceptual judgment without any sharp line of demarcation between them.\u201d \u00a0(46)<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0 \u00a0 I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled \u201cImagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics,\u201d to which what I\u2019ll cite below has considerable relevance. \u00a0In response to that entry, two readers called my attention to an essay by the late biochemist, novelist, and otherwise phenomenally prolific writer Isaac Asimov […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8765,10733,10745,10739,10742,10730,10727,7950,174,3457,10724,10754,10736,243,10760,10748,10751,10757],"class_list":["post-84664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abduction","tag-abductive","tag-anomalies","tag-anomalous","tag-anomaly","tag-c-s-peirce","tag-charles-sanders-peirce","tag-discovery","tag-explanation","tag-logic","tag-peirce","tag-phenomena","tag-reasoning","tag-science","tag-scientific-thinking","tag-surprise","tag-surprising","tag-unexpected"],"yoast_head":"\n"Abductive Reasoning"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled "Imagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics," to which what I'll cite below\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Abductive Reasoning"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled "Imagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics," to which what I'll cite below\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-27T22:12:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-27T23:48:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/04\/Charles_Sanders_Peirce_in_1859.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"Abductive Reasoning\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-27T22:12:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-27T23:48:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled \\\"Imagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics,\\\" to which what I'll cite below\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Abductive Reasoning”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Abductive Reasoning\"","description":"    I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled \"Imagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics,\" to which what I'll cite below","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Abductive Reasoning\"","og_description":"    I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled \"Imagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics,\" to which what I'll cite below","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2020-04-27T22:12:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-27T23:48:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/04\/Charles_Sanders_Peirce_in_1859.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html","name":"\"Abductive Reasoning\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-04-27T22:12:52+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-27T23:48:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    I published a blog entry a few days ago entitled \"Imagination as a Key Element in Science and Mathematics,\" to which what I'll cite below","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/04\/abductive-reasoning.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Abductive Reasoning”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}