A Further Note on Inductive Generalization

In this paper, we develop the algorithm, given in Plotkin (1970), for findingthe least generalization of two clauses, into a theory of inductive generalization.The types of hypothesis which can be formed are very simple. They allhave the form: (x)Px --> Qx.We have been guided by ideas from the philosophy of science, followingBuchanan (1966). There is no search for infallible methods of generatingtrue hypotheses. Instead we define (in terms of first-order predicate calculus)the notions of data and evidence for the data. Next, some formal criteria areset up for a sentence to be a descriptive hypothesis which is a good explanationof the data, given the evidence. We can then look for the best such hypothesis.Machine Intelligence 6