mtimber wrote in post #14725598
One of the assumptions of empirical deduction is that there are laws of uniformity in nature.
No, this is not an assumption, it is an observation.
That is tested on a daily basis and confirmed.
Precisely: the fact that you can test it means it is not a presumption. A presumption is an axiom, a foundational assumption that is taken as a given because it cannot be tested or deduced.
So yes, we do presume the laws of physics are consistent throughout the universe for example, because if we did not, no scientific experiment could be considered reliable.
Again, our observations show that the laws of physics are consistent, at least within the part of the universe that we can see. There is no need to presume that which can be observed.
If we cannot rely on the uniformity of the universe, we cannot perform deductive science...
That's true as far as it goes, but it doesn't mean that lack of uniformity is, even in principle, unobservable.
This is what happens when you don't recognise absolutes.
The only absolute involved in science (that I'm aware of, at any rate) is that there exists a physical, observable universe, and that multiple observations are all of that same physical, observable universe. That's it. The rest is the result of observation, or deduced therefrom.