epagoge means the adducing of particular examples so as to lead to a universal conclusion; the argument by induction.
epagoge is pronounced /ɛpəˈɡəʊɡiː/.
Why “epagoge” is a great word
The logical process of adducing particular examples to lead to a universal conclusion; argument by induction. From Latin epagōgē, from Ancient Greek ἐπαγωγή (epagōgḗ, "a bringing in, leading to"). Unlike deduction, which marches with certainty from the general to the specific, or syllogism, with its formal, three-step architecture, epagoge is the quiet, patient accumulation of the particular—the farmer who, after watching the sun rise red through haze on three successive mornings, predicts rain by week's end; the physician who, having seen fever follow wound-rot in a dozen patients, names the pattern sepsis; the child who strokes five cats, finds them all warm and vibrating, and concludes that all cats are secretly engines. It is reason not descending from certainty but climbing toward it, rung by tentative rung, until the mind, almost without willing it, lifts its gaze to the general law.
Etymology
From Latin epagōgē, from Ancient Greek ἐπᾰγωγή (epăgōgḗ, “a bringing in”). See epact.
noun
- The adducing of particular examples so as to lead to a universal conclusion; the argument by induction.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- apagoge 86% match — An indirect argument which proves a thing by showing the impossibility or absurdity of the contrary. vs epagoge →
- syllogize 84% match — To reason by means of syllogisms. vs epagoge →
- illation 84% match — The act of inferring or concluding, especially from a set of premises; a conclusion, a deduction. vs epagoge →
- inference 83% match — The act or process of inferring by deduction or induction. vs epagoge →
- symperasma 83% match — A conclusion that includes a brief summary of the foregoing arguments; a concluding summary. vs epagoge →
- ratiocination 83% match — Reasoning, conscious deliberate inference; the activity or process of reasoning. vs epagoge →
- dialectic 82% match — Any formal system of reasoning that arrives at a truth by the exchange of logical arguments. vs epagoge →
- ratiocinate 82% match — To use the powers of the mind logically and methodically; to reason. vs epagoge →