A Class Room Logic / Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of Teaching

by George Hastings McNair

2. SPECIAL FUNCTION OF INDUCTION AND DEDUCTION.

As commonly treated logic is a regulative subject. This implies the two aspects of direction and correction. Logic directs by means of the laws and forms of thought, and corrects by means of the rules of right thinking. To a certain degree both departments of logic are directive as well as corrective; but it is worthy of remark that inductive logic emphasizes the former, while deductive logic lays stress upon the latter. It is inductive logic which shows how man has acquired new knowledge; inductive logic explains the mode of procedure adopted by the discoverer and the inventor. On the other hand, deductive logic is distinctly a science of criticism. Induction directs to new truth; deduction aims to modify and correct new truth.