Abduction

[ChrisK]

So I was reading the wikipedia article on abductive reasoning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abduction_(logic)) and became very confused. Now abduction is the equivelent of affirming the consequent, which is a formal fallacy. How can this system of inference work if it functions in a fallacious way? Or is it simply not a fallacy?

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

Abduction, or Inference to the Best Explantion, is indeed a formal fallacy, but we use it in everyday reasoning all the time.

However, there we use it in familiar surroundings. Problems arise when it is extended into the sciences where researchers are exploring new areas of knowledge, and there it's an unsafe strategy.