Analogies - lecture notes from Professor Gina Firenzi PDF

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lecture notes from Professor Gina Firenzi...

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Analogies Induction and Analogy What Is an Analogy?

An analogy is a comparison of things based on similarities those things share. Analogies, then, depend on what is similar or the same in two or more cases. When you can show that two things are so similar then I must accept your argument that what is true for one must be true for the second one.

How Can We Argue by Analogy? Analogies compare two or more things; arguments from analogy go one step further. They often claim that another similarity exists, given the similarities already recognized. An argument from analogy claims that certain similarities are evidence that there is another similarity. For example: The Post Office is a government agency. The Department of Motor Vehicles is a government agency. The Post Office is closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. So, the Department of Motor Vehicles must be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The example notes a similarity between the Post Office and the Department of Motor Vehicles. Then it states something additional about the Post Office. Last, it claims that the same thing is true of the Department of Motor Vehicles. This example is, in fact, a general form of an argument from analogy. Rather than speak about specific examples, we can give the general form of arguments from analogy by using letters as symbols. A has characteristic X. B has characteristic X. A has characteristic Y.

Therefore, B has characteristic Y. ──────────────────────...