Deductive reasoning Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Epistemology === Deductive reasoning plays an important role in [[epistemology]]. Epistemology is concerned with the question of [[Justification (epistemology)|justification]], i.e. to point out which beliefs are justified and why.<ref>{{cite web |title=epistemology |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=19 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Steup |first1=Matthias |last2=Neta |first2=Ram |title=Epistemology |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=19 March 2022 |date=2020}}</ref> Deductive inferences are able to transfer the justification of the premises onto the conclusion.<ref name="Schechter"/> So while logic is interested in the truth-preserving nature of deduction, epistemology is interested in the justification-preserving nature of deduction. There are different theories trying to explain why deductive reasoning is justification-preserving.<ref name="Schechter"/> According to [[reliabilism]], this is the case because deductions are truth-preserving: they are reliable processes that ensure a true conclusion given the premises are true.<ref name="Schechter"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Becker |first1=Kelly |title=Reliabilism |url=https://iep.utm.edu/reliabil/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldman |first1=Alvin |last2=Beddor |first2=Bob |title=Reliabilist Epistemology |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reliabilism/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=19 March 2022 |date=2021}}</ref> Some theorists hold that the thinker has to have explicit awareness of the truth-preserving nature of the inference for the justification to be transferred from the premises to the conclusion. One consequence of such a view is that, for young children, this deductive transference does not take place since they lack this specific awareness.<ref name="Schechter"/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page