- Is this an argument? What is the conclusion?
- What is the comparison?
- What are the premises? (one or both sides of the comparison)
- What are the similarities
- Can we state the similarities as premises and find a general principle that covers the two sides?
- Does the general principle really apply to both sides? Do the differences matter?
- Is the argument strong or valid? Is it good?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Argument by Analogy
Argument by Analogy was the reasoning I had a difficulty with learning. I think I was over thinking what it could mean so I was looking past the simple meaning behind it.If one were to argue by analogy one would claim that certain things share similar characteristics in common. When encountering an analogy, we must analyze whether the analogy is a good argument or not by using these guideline and questions. These are the steps/questions used to help as a guideline in evaluating analogies:
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I agree with your post completely. I had a lot of trouble with argument by analogy and like you I was over thinking it. I think the points you stated really helped me figure out if the argument was good or not. The main reason I think I was having trouble was I would see the similarities between the two and find what the general principle is but then I would not see if they applied to both sides and how the differences mattered. Usually I would not believe they mattered but in the end if they do it creates a bad argument because the comparison is incorrect.
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