The Commens Dictionary

Quote from ‘A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God’

Quote: 

Concerning the question of the nature of the logical validity possessed by Deduction, Induction, and Retroduction, which is still an arena of controversy, I shall confine myself to stating the opinions which I am prepared to defend by positive proofs. [—] Induction is a kind of reasoning that may lead us into error; but that it follows a method which, sufficiently persisted in, will be Inductively Certain (the sort of certainty we have that a perfect coin, pitched up often enough, will sometime turn up heads) to diminish the error below any predesignate degree, is assured by man’s power of perceiving Inductive Certainty. In all this I am inviting the reader to peep through the big end of the telescope; there is a wealth of pertinent detail that must here be passed over.

Date: 
1908
References: 
CP 6.474
Citation: 
‘Induction’ (pub. 03.02.13-19:37). Quote in M. Bergman & S. Paavola (Eds.), The Commens Dictionary: Peirce's Terms in His Own Words. New Edition. Retrieved from http://www.commens.org/dictionary/entry/quote-neglected-argument-reality-god-3.
Posted: 
Feb 03, 2013, 19:37 by Sami Paavola
Last revised: 
Jan 07, 2014, 01:00 by Commens Admin