Qualitative inductive generalization and confirmation

Inductive generalization is a defeasible type of inference which we use to reason from the particular to the universal. First, a number of systems are presented that provide different ways of implementing this inference pattern within first-order logic. These systems are defined within the adaptive logics framework for modeling defeasible reasoning. Next, the logics are reinterpreted as criteria of confirmation. It is argued that they withstand the comparison with two qualitative theories of confirmation, Hempel’s satisfaction criterion and hypothetico-deductive confirmation.