Legal Reasoning: Inductive and Deductive Methods

 

Legal Reasoning: Inductive and Deductive Methods

Legal reasoning is a of process of thinking which helps a researcher to come to decision relating to law. This type of reasoning often involves the use of prior judicial decisions.  Law is a tool of social control that attempts to resolve conflicts in the society; every decision must be guided and followed by a logical reasoning which takes into account the past decisions and statutes.

 Basic components in legal reasoning there are four basic components in legal reasoning which applies to legal process— logic, Justice, experience and policy.

Logic:  Refers to the internal consistency and equal application of the law. A person can obtain a false but logically correct conclusion from a false premise. Therefore, logic prefers to life correct application of precedents and equal application of law.

Justice:  is to do right between the parties. Philosophical thought is an ingredient of justice.

Experience is an important component in legal reasoning. it has been experience. Experience gives power to give good legal judgments.

 Policy. The term ‘policy’ may be used to describe the process of approaching a problem.

Logical reasoning:  Every science is based on the principles of logic or reason. Science involves die rules of reasoning or use of arguments. Arguments are made on the basis of connection, relationship, association, property, common variable or attribute between things and activities mentioned in the argument.

Types of Arguments: Arguments can be: (i) Deductive; (ii) Inductive;

 Inductive reasoning aims at developing a theory while deductive reasoning aims at testing an existing theory. Deductive reasoning is an important skill that can help you think logically and make meaningful decisions in the workplace. It explains causal relationships between concepts and variables. 

Deductive Method

Assumptions:  The method of studying a phenomenon (fact) by taking some assumptions and deducting conclusions from these assumptions is known as the deductive method. Deduction is a process of reasoning from the general to particular or from the universe to individual, from given premises to necessary conclusions. Deductive method is a part of the scientific method. It is basically a rational approach. Deductive logic uses a general statement as the basis of argument.

The common forms of deductive logic is syllogism (a form of arguing in which two statements are used to prove that a third statement is true, for example, ‘All humans are mortal;(Major Premise Which is Universal Truth) I am a human, therefore I am mortal.’. The third statement follows from the first and second statements taken together. A syllogism consists of a major argument, a minor argument, and a conclusion. A major premise usually states a general rule. A minor premise makes a factual statement about a particular person or thing or a group of persons or things. A conclusion connects the particular statement in the minor premise with the general one in the major premise, and tells us how the general rule applies to the facts at hand. In legal arguments, this process is called applying the law to the facts.

Example: to qualify as a victim of rape under criminal law there must (1) be sexual intercourse with a women; (2) the intercourse must be without her will. (Major premise; states a rule of law.) Here, the woman had consensual sex. (Minor premise; makes a statement of fact.) Therefore, the plaintiff cannot be a “victim” of rap under criminal law.

A syllogism is valid if, given the truth of its premises, the conclusion “follows” logically such that it, too, must be true.

Example: “all teachers are human. Some human are excellent racers. Therefore, some teachers are excellent racers.” Explanation: if read apart, each of these statements is true. Teachers are indeed human. Some human (e.g. athletes) are excellent racers. And as it happens, some teachers are also good racers. But this argument is not valid. The fact that teachers are humans and that some humans are excellent racers does not prove anything about the racing ability of teachers. Based on the information we’re given in the premises, it is logically possible that no teacher of the world has ever stepped foot in field for running. Because it is logically possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false, this argument is not logically valid.

When researchers propose a study of the causal factors of the delinquencies which are on the increase and which seems serious to them, they have some general anticipatory idea as to what to observe and what specific facts in the main would be relevant to their inquiry.

The following example can be cited for the deductive reasoning: Lombroso, an Italian, observed peculiar physical features among the criminals and by using the logical deductive thinking formulated the following propositions by taking his observations into consideration : (1) Criminals are by birth a distinct type of persons; (2) They can be recognized by stigma or anomalies such as a symmetrical cranium, long lower jaw, flattened nose, scanty beard and low sensitivity to pains; (3) These physical anomalies identify the personality which is predisposed criminal behaviour; and (4) Such persons cannot refrain from committing crime unless the circumstances of life are generally favoured.

Steps in Deductive Methods:

Step 1. The exploration of the problem—An indispensable preliminary to any investigation is the existence of a definite problem in the mind of the researcher. The problem must be one of significance for the actual world.

Step 2. Setting up of the hypothesis from assumptions.—He has to select the assumptions from which the conclusion will be derived. The assumption must be derived from observation. They must be close to reality. On the basis of suitable assumptions, hypothesis may be formulated. A hypothesis is a conjuncture, a hunch, of the possible connection between two phenomena.

 Step 3. Theoretical development of the hypothesis—The nature and implications of the hypotheses have to be carefully analyzed to formulate a theory. This is purely die deductive part of the process.

Merits and demerits of deductive method Merits 1. Powerful.—Deductive explanation is very powerful because it makes use of a valid form of deductive argument where the explanandum must be true if the explanans are true.

2. Substitute for experimentation.—It is not possible for the investigator to conduct controlled experiments with the legal phenomena in a laboratory. He can, therefore, fall back upon deductive reasoning.

 3. Actual and exact.—The deductive method lends for the generalizations which are accurate and exact.

Demerits 1. Requires high degree of logic and reasoning.—Not everyone can use deductive method successfully and even many experienced researchers have been trapped by faulty reasoning.

2. Not applicable to all types of studies.—Deductive method can be applicable to the limited studies only.

Inductive Method

Induction is the most often used method of scientific research. Induction is a process  of reasoning from particular cases to whole group of cases, from specific instances to  general  rules. The  inductive method  is  also  known  as  historical,  or  empirical  method. It may be described as practical approach to the research problems.  It tries to remove the gap between theory and practice. This method examines various causes one after another and tries to establish causal relations between them. General   principles are laid down after examining a large number of special instances or facts.  The method  is  said  to  be  ‘empirical’  because  the  formulation  of  principle  is made  only after an extensive compilation of  the  raw data of experience. The data may be  historical  or  statistical  data,  The  historical  instances  are  qualitative  while  the  statistical data are quantitative. Generalizations are made after the analysis of data.

Let us take an example:

(1) Man A died

(2) Man B died and so on

(3) All men are mortal.

One comes across  the death of  so many  individuals. On  the basis of  these observed facts, one may infer that all human beings are mortal basing on inductive reasoning. Induction argument derives a generalized conclusion on die basis of particulars which are  often  empirically  derived  observations.  The  premise  of  an  inductive  argument  makes  die  conclusion  probable,  not  certain.  The  inductive  approach  relies  on  the scientific  discovery  of  facts.  From  the  observation  of  a  sample,  an  inference  is  made  about  a  whole  population.

Merits and demerits of Inductive Method

1. More  realistic.—This method  is more  realistic because  it  studies  the  changes  in conditions surrounding the social activities of man and their effect on social activities  are analyzed and displayed,

2. Possibility of verification.—The method  is more useful because  its propositions can be tested and verified easily.

Demerits of Inductive Method

1.      It is a difficult method.—This method cannot be used by a beginner or a common  man because  it  is  impossible  for an ordinary person  to collect  facts, study  them and  derive some conclusions out of them. The cost is too much for him.

2.      Limited use in socio-legal  studies.—This method  is commonly used  for  lifeless  objects of the physical science. In socio-legal studies, we study a man’s problems. As such, die method has limited use.