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Comments on Is Mathematical Induction truly "induction", or misnamed?

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Is Mathematical Induction truly "induction", or misnamed? [closed]

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Closed as off topic by Peter Taylor‭ on Dec 21, 2021 at 14:06

This question is not within the scope of Mathematics.

This question was closed; new answers can no longer be added. Users with the reopen privilege may vote to reopen this question if it has been improved or closed incorrectly.

By induction, I mean this screenshot from this Youtube video

Abduction as an Aspect of Retroduction | Chiasson, Phyllis | Commens

Induction:
The prefix “in,” also from the Latin has to do with inclusion. Thus, the prefix “in” (to include) combined with the suffix “ductive” means “leading into” (or including), as one would do when reaching a conclusion by estimating from a sample, or generalizing from a number of instances.

Therefore, based upon their Latin derivations (to which Peirce was partial, as he was for Greek roots) our four terms have the following meanings:

  • Retroduction = deliberately leading backward.

  • Abduction = leading away from

  • Deduction = leading to separation, removal, or negation.

  • Induction = “leading into” (or including).

The following quotation moots Deduction and Induction — not Abduction — but it doesn't expatiate or address whether Mathematical Induction is correctly named?

1.1 Introduction

In the sciences and in philosophy, essentially two types of inference are used, deductive and inductive. Deductive inference is usually based on the strict rules of logic and in most settings, deductive logic is irrefutable. Inductive reasoning is the act of guessing a pattern or rule or predicting future behavior based on past experience. For example, for the average person, the sun has risen every day of that person’s life; it might seem safe to then conclude that the sun will rise again tomorrow. However, one can not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the sun will rise tomorrow. There may be a certain set of circumstances that prevent the sun rising tomorrow.
        Guessing a larger pattern based upon smaller patterns in observations is called empirical induction. (See Chapter 6 for more on empirical induction.) Proving that the larger pattern always holds is another matter. For example, after a number of experiments with force, one might conclude that Newton’s second “law” of motion $f = ma$ holds; nobody actually proved that $f = ma$ always holds, and in fact, this “law” has recently been shown to be flawed (see nearly any modern text in physics, e.g., [56, p.76]).
        Another type of induction is more reliable: Mathematical induction is a form of reasoning that proves, without a doubt, some particular rule or pattern, usually infinite. The process of mathematical induction uses two steps. The first step is the “base step”: some simple cases are established. The second step is called the “induction step”, and usually involves showing that an arbitrary large example follows logically from a slightly smaller pattern. Observations or patterns proved by mathematical induction share the veracity or assurance of those statements proved by deductive logic. The validity of a proof by mathematical induction follows from basic axioms regarding positive integers (see Chapter 2 for more on the foundations of the theory).

David Gunderson, Handbook of Mathematical Induction (2010), pp 1-2.

3.1 The first principle

For convenience, the standard presentation of mathematical induction is repeated here. Sometimes this standard version of induction is called the “first principle of mathematical induction”, and is also called “weak mathematical induction” (as opposed to “strong” induction, a modification appearing in Section 3.2). Recall that the notation P → Q is short for “P implies Q”.

Theorem 2.4.1 [Principle of Mathematical Induction (MI)]

Let S(n) be a statement involving n. If
$\qquad$ (i) S(1) holds, and
$\qquad$ (ii) for every k ≥ 1, S(k) → S(k + 1),
then for every n ≥ 1, the statement S(n) holds.

Op. cit. p 35.

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3 comment threads

In a sense (1 comment)
Closed as off-topic because the issue at heart here isn't mathematics but linguistics. In particular,... (1 comment)
Please write the questions in your own words. This leads to learning and you might end up solving the... (1 comment)
In a sense
whybecause‭ wrote almost 3 years ago

Mathematical induction is not scientific induction. So in that sense mathematical induction is misnamed. But ... maybe scientific induction is the one that's misnamed. I don't know the history of these terms, but in any case, someone somewhere should change at least one of these names.

What could we call mathematical induction instead? Maybe countable antecedent affirmation?