Abstract
By an inductive argument I mean a set of declarative propositions (the premises), together with another declarative proposition (the conclusion), that purports to be supported by those premises without following from them. By definition, therefore, no inductive argument is a deductive argument. All of the inductive arguments I shall consider are intended to be fully explicit: the intended degree of support for the conclusion is supposed to be provided wholly by the stated premises, without assistance from unstated assumptions?. A correct deductive argument is usually called 'valid'; to avoid confusion, a correct inductive argument may be called 'sound'. Since an inductive argument does not aspire-or should not aspireto satisfy the standards of deductive correctness, it would be misleading to call it invalid. I shall be assuming, without argument, that some inductive arguments are sound and some are not.2 The foregoing definition deviates from the main traditions of the
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