# Deduction Deduction makes *explicit* what is already *implicit* in a set of premises. A deduction is an argument in which the conclusion is said to follow necessarily from the premise. **Deductive reasoning** is the process of drawing valid [inferences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inference "Inference"). An inference is [valid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Validity_(logic) "Validity (logic)") if its conclusion follows [logically](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic "Logic") from its [premises](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premise "Premise"), meaning that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. For example, the inference from the premises "all men are mortal" and "[Socrates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates "Socrates") is a man" to the conclusion "Socrates is mortal" is deductively valid. In the words of DD: > No amount of deduction applied to statements describing a set of experiences can reach a conclusion about anything other than those experiences. DD points out that the **logical gap of deduction** arises because deduction, by its nature, can only derive conclusions that are already implicit in the premises. --- Date: 20240912 Links to: [Beginning of Infinity](Beginning%20of%20Infinity.md) pg 5 Tags: References: * []()