Question

Identify the whether the argument is best viewed as deductive or inductive,
identify the premise and conclusion and explain your decision in this case...
Explain the the universal principle that says something holds without exception which turns into a deductive or inductive argument :
The indentation on the West coast of Africa is about the same size as the east coast of South America, indicating that the two continents were once connected.

Answer 1

The premise of the statement is "the two continents were once connected". Premise is something which proves as a support to the conclusion. There can be more than one premise but, in the statement we have only one premise.

The conclusion of the statement is "The indentation on the West coast of Africa is about the same size as the east coast of South America". Here, it says that indentation was same for the two specified regions.

In the statement, the two region's indentation is same because they were once connected. But, can that be really sufficient to prove that? No, there can be a possibility that once connected regions may have a similar indentation. But, only connection between them will not prove their similar indentation.

Hence, it is an inductive argument.

Inductive arguments are those whose premises cannot prove the conclusion completely. That is it is unlikely for it to be true. Whereas, in the deductive statements, the premises will guarantee the conclusion to be true.

In our statement there is just the possibility of connection between the regions. But, this connection is not a strong proof for similar indentation. Hence, it is an inductive statement.