ABSTRACT
Charles Sanders Peirce’s strong argument on logic is that abduction is the most usual and typical kind of inference. Sometimes it is called ‘uncertain inference’, or ‘evidential reasoning’. Abduction helps explain how indexical signs function as evidence. Peirce’s strong argument on logic is that abduction is the most usual and typical kind of inference. Peirce’s concept of abduction is relevant to the notion of the contemporary smart city. Automated abduction across large sectors of a population is not necessarily accurate, but it does not have to be. People mostly understand the way logical deduction works, but abduction is less intuitive as a concept, and less well understood. There are benefits and risks from assuming the ability to infer undeclared facts from databases of evidence. The idea of evidence is obviously important in a juridical context. Evidence comes to the fore when architects deal with compliance, and get caught up in legal matters, such as contract disputes, liability and as witnesses.
