Question

Is the following argument best classified as deductive or inductive?

On a National Geographic map, no two adjacent nations appear shaded with the same color. Brazil is shaded green on this map, and it is a National Geographic map. Only two nations in South America are not adjacent to Brazil. So at most three South American nations on this map are shaded green.

a) Deductive
b) Inductive

Answer 1

The argument is an example of deductive reasoning, as it applies a general rule from a National Geographic map's coloring protocol to deduce the number of South American nations that could be shaded green.

Step-by-step explanation:

The argument presented can be best classified as deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning starts with a general principle and uses it to make specific predictions. In this case, the general principle is that on a National Geographic map, no two adjacent nations are shaded the same color. Knowing Brazil is shaded green and that only two South American nations are not adjacent to Brazil allows us to deduce that at most three South American nations on this map are shaded green. This is because Brazil plus the two nations not adjacent to it would make three. These specific results are derived from the application of the general rule provided by the National Geographic map's coloring protocol.

Inductive reasoning, on the other hand, would involve looking at specific instances and making a broader generalization, which is not what is being done in this argument. Therefore, the reasoning used here is deductive, not inductive.