Literature Glossary
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Over 200 literary terms, Shmooped to perfection.
Deduction
Definition:
You know how in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, everybody's after the One Ring to rule them all? Deduction's like that, except in this type of logic, there's one rule to understand them all… so to speak.
Deductive reasoning goes a little somethin' like this:
Premise: All spiders have eight legs.
Premise: My brother's missing tarantula, Fluffles, is a spider.
Conclusion: Therefore, Fluffles has eight legs.
When a conclusion necessarily follows from its premises, like it does in this creepy-crawly example, that means your deductive reasoning is on point, or valid.
Now, try not to think about Fluffles running loose around your house on those eight hairy legs of his. We're sure he'll turn up… somewhere.