Introduction
         Inductive Argument: an argument in which the 
           premises are intended to provide support, but not 
           conclusive evidence, for the conclusion. 
         Strong Inductive Argument: an inductive 
           argument in which the premises actually do make 
           the conclusion more likely to be true (rather than 
           false). 
            Remember, strength comes in degrees. 
         Cogent Inductive Argument: a strong inductive 
           argument with true premises. 
         How can you know if the argument is inductive? 
            If the argument is invalid, the charitable thing 
              to do is treat it as inductive. 
            Indicator words: likely, probably, it’s plausible 
              to suppose that, etc.
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            Inductive Generalizations
             Generalization: statement made about all or 
               most members of a group. 
             Inductive generalization: inductive argument 
               that relies on characteristics of a sample 
               population (i.e., a portion of the population) 
               to make a claim about the population as a 
               whole. 
                i.e., an inductive argument with a generalization 
                  as a conclusion. 
             Example: All the bass Hank caught in the 
               Susquehanna have been less than 1lb. So, 
               most of the bass in the Susquehanna are less 
               than 1lb. 
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          Making Inductive Generalizations 
          stronger by making conclusions weaker.
             Notice… 
                 All the bass Hank caught in the Susquehanna have 
                  been less than 1lb. So, all of the bass in the 
                  Susquehanna are less than 1lb. 
             ..is a pretty weak argument. Even if Hank 
               fishes often, the Susquehanna is a big river 
               and his catches are not enough to justify 
               such a “sweeping conclusion.” 
             However, if we changed the conclusion to 
               “most of the bass are…” or, better yet, 
               “many of the bass are…” the argument 
               would be much stronger. 
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          Practice
          Page 288, Exercise 11.1
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            Evaluating Inductive Generalizations
               Three questions to ask:
             Are the premises true?  Use the skills you 
               learned in chapter 8 to determine whether 
               you are justified in accepting the premises.
             Is the sample large enough?  In general, the 
               larger the population you are generalizing 
               about, the larger your “sample population” 
               will need to be. 
             Is the sample representative? Only if the 
               sample shares all the relevant “percentages” 
               with the population as a whole. 
                 Maybe Hank only fished with lures that were 
                   attractive to smaller fish. 
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