Talk:Deductive reasoning
Thinking aloud[change source]
The last statement cannot be literally true, because all valid deductions are tautologies. Conclusions are contained in the premises. Isn't it a classical philosophy puzzle, that all induction is insecure, and all deduction is tautologous? Therefore no form of reasoning produces new knowledge, and hence the liking of empirical philosophers for sense data? Macdonald-ross (talk) 21:56, 24 March 2015 (UTC)
- Hmmm... That argument may not have force here, because mathematics does not claim to be knowledge about the world. So deduction may give ideas about the workings of logic or mathematics, Macdonald-ross (talk) 21:56, 24 March 2015 (UTC)