The Art of Understanding a Deduction

For the past couple of weeks (more like one day about two weeks ago...), our class has been discussing a term called "stasis" or the stalemate of a problem that has equal arguments, thus, both sides are neither right nor wrong. Examples of this can include the everlasting argument of abortion or gun control, but as fun as stalemates are, what really gets me hyped up are solutions to problems, especially if the solutions are correct and creatively approached. Nothing gets me more excited than correct deductions.

In a way, deductions are persuasive arguments backed up by evidence and logical reasoning. With many logical statements comes a logical conclusion, or in other words the solution to the problem/case. The first people who probably come to your mind when hearing the word "deduction" is most likely detectives and then the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. This character was popular because of his very high logical reasoning, which in itself transcends past human understanding, and his use of forensic science to back up his deduction. Surprisingly, if it wasn't for Doyle, blood and toxicology (poison) analysis may have never existed.

There are three laws used whenever making deductions is involved: The Law of Detachment, The Law of Syllogism and The Law of Contrapositive. Of course, all of these techniques are not displayed at the same time, but these go through the minds of detectives and those who try to understand a event and find a meaningful conclusion. 

The Law of Detachment: Also known as "affirming the antecedent" that basically states that if a statement that is conditional is made with a stated hypothesis, than the conclusion is deduced from the conditional statement and the hypothesis. Here is an example:
1)If an angle satisfies the condition 180° < R < 360°, then R is a reflex angle. 
2)R = 270°
3)R is an reflex angle.
Because the measurement of angle R is greater than 180° but is also less than 360°, we can conclude that R is an reflex angle.

The Law of Syllogism: For this there are two conditional statements and by combining with the hypothesis, a conclusion is made by combining this with the conclusion of another statement.

1)If Michael is sick, then he will be absent.

2)If Michael is absent, then he will miss his classwork.

3)Therefore, if Michael is sick, then he will miss his classwork.

The Law of Contrapositive: Basically, this states that if the conditional statement is false, then so is the hypothesis.

1)If it is snowing, then there are clouds in the sky.

2)There are no clouds in the sky.

3)Thus, it is not snowing. 

Before announcing the deduction, it is important to make sure that the argument makes sense. One can be completely wrong with the final product, but if there is a logical reasoning for backing it up, then you can never be truly wrong.

Sources:

"Deduction." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://grammar.about.com/od/d/g/deductionterm.htm>.

"Deductive Reasoning." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Oct. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deductive_reasoning>.

"Kairos." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/kairosterm.htm>.

"Sherlock Holmes." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes#Habits_and_personality>.

"Stasis." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stasis>.