Disjunctive Inference

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The highest form of the inference of necessity. It grounds a conclusion through the systematic exclusion of all alternatives. "A is either B, C, or D; A is not B and not C; therefore A is D." It presupposes a complete articulation (disjunction) of the universal. This is the basic structure of the "Detective Principle."

Origin: Classical logic (*modus tollendo ponens*). Hegel (highest form of the subjective inference).

In Hegel: Enc. §191; SL Vol. 2, Subjective Concept, The Inference

Cross-references: Inference; Inferences of necessity; Detective Principle

Commentary on the Logic, Chapter 11

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