A Comparative Study on Inductive Methodology

Induction is one of the most important methods available to human being for gaining knowledge of the world. This methodology, despite its import and advantages, seems to lack the potential for philosophical certainty. Philosophical certainty is gained only if there were a logical, and thus productive, relation between premises of an argument and its conclusion (the same as in the case of deduction). This is while there is a logical gap between the premises of an induction and its conclusion, leaving them with no productive connection. The question, then, arises as to how one can rely on an induction, and still admit of the fact that its result is not definitive.The author in this article reviews, compares, and briefly criticizes different attempts at resolving this issue. He juxtaposes the technical term, induction, in the both Islamic and Western intellectual environments to show their divergences and to reveal confusions that have arisen from lack of sensitivity to such differences.