Abductive reasoning considers various explanations for an observed situation and tries to find the simplest or most likely. It is a knowledge-rich method of reasoning that can make (defeasible) deductions beyond the incontrovertible facts (used by deductive reasoning) and available empirical data (used by inductive reasoning). As such it is a form of non-monotonic reasoning as new knowledge could change the potential explanations.
Used in Chap. 3: pages 25, 26, 27, 34; Chap. 5: page 63
Also known as abduction, abductive