Literary notes about Inference (AI summary)
The word “inference” has been employed in literature in a range of contexts—from the formal processes of logical reasoning to more subtle, intuitive leaps that enrich narrative and argument. In classical philosophy, for example, Plato uses inference to denote conclusions drawn from reasoned debate ([1], [2], [3], [4]), and David Hume analyzes its role in human understanding and moral judgment ([5], [6], [7]). In detective fiction and narrative literature, authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and George Eliot integrate inference as a method by which characters piece together clues or justify emotional responses ([8], [9], [10], [11]). Meanwhile, in academic and psychological texts, scholars like John Dewey and Hans Gross closely examine the conditions under which observation and inference occur, highlighting both their strengths and potential pitfalls ([12], [13], [14], [15]). Across these varied uses, “inference” serves both as the backbone of rational argument and as a literary device symbolizing the leap from the known to the unknown.
- The inference is obvious.
— from The Republic by Plato - Can you tell me whence I derive this inference?
— from The Republic by Plato - That is the inference, I suppose.
— from The Republic by Plato - D That is the inference.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - VI. OF THE INFERENCE FROM THE IMPRESSION TO THE IDEA.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - I place it either in the constant union and conjunction of like objects, or in the inference of the mind from the one to the other.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - A like inference may be drawn from comparing the instinct of generation and the institution of property.
— from An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume - Inference,—that your brother was often at low water.
— from The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle - Knowing what I knew, I set up an inference of my own here.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - "No, it certainly is not." "With all these data you should be able to draw some just inference.
— from The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle - Arthur felt a startled uncertainty how far Adam was speaking from knowledge, and how far from mere inference.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot - What are these units, these terms of inference when we examine them on their own account?
— from How We Think by John Dewey - It is the result of regulation of the conditions under which observation and inference take place.
— from How We Think by John Dewey - This is an inductive inference and its justification is quite another question.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - Consequence,—the inference is wrong since the premise was wrong, and the whole work has gone for nothing.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
