Green Induction Research Paper

In this paper, I will discuss the Problem of Induction and the Principle of Uniformity of Nature’s solution (PUN), proposed by David Hume. Another element of this paper will explore Nelson Goodman’s New Riddle of Induction that derives from Hume’s hypothesis. In addition to that, I will also recount why PUN is insufficient/problematic to justify induction according to Goodman, along with a couple examples of premises that will better demonstrate the issue. There are two types of reasoning – deductive and inductive. Deductive states that the premises guarantee the conclusion. On the other hand, inductive asserts that the premises do not guarantee the conclusion but mainly support them. This generated a problem within inductive reasoning and David Hume thinks that induction is therefore, not justified. The problem of induction is openly built upon skepticism, drawing generalizations and making predictions of the future. Hume argues that repetition of effects cannot bring us to the cause – observations of similarity between effects only …show more content…
For P1, Goodman uses “All emeralds are green” and when we use PUN, the conclusion is “All emeralds are green.” When we apply that to P2 by using grue, – “All emeralds are grue” and apply PUN, the conclusion would be “All emeralds are grue.” How can these two different words have the same meaning – that they’re both emeralds? Although one of these arguments is good and the other is bad, PUN supports both of them, showing how unreliable it is as they contradict each other. Though, the main question here is “How do we know which one is good and which one is bad?” Goodman thinks it is necessary to find principle reasons that prescribe good/bad. One explanation would be since we are already familiar with the word green, it makes the word commonly used and known. However, the word grue is foreign to us as it is just a made-up