Inductive logic studies the way in which a premise may

Concept

Deductive entailment and inductive support are different logical relations.

Entailment guarantees truth preservation: if the premises are true, the conclusion cannot be false. Inductive support only raises the probability or plausibility of the conclusion, so it remains defeasible.

Application

The stem asks about the relation studied by inductive logic. A premise may make a conclusion reasonable or probable without guaranteeing it; therefore it may support the conclusion without entailing it.

Contrast

• support and entail a conclusion — this combines evidential support with a truth-guaranteeing relation, which adds the defining feature of deduction.

• not support but entail a conclusion — entailment is stronger than ordinary evidential support, so denying all support while retaining entailment does not describe the intended inductive relation.

• neither support nor entail a conclusion — this removes the evidential connection that inductive logic examines.

• support a conclusion without entailing it — this expresses a defeasible relation in which the premise can increase plausibility without guaranteeing truth.

Result

Hence, inductive logic studies how a premise may support a conclusion without entailing it.