To me, every type of the reasoning given is pretty hard and confusing to understand, but the most difficult reasoning to understand for me is the reasoning by analogy because in the beginning, I was confused on how it works. According to the Einstein text, "A comparison becomes reasoning by analogy when it is part of an argument: On one side of the comparison we draw a conclusion, so on the other side we should conclude the same." I thought it was just basically comparing two things based on exact or similar idea because that is what analogy is about. But when I got to see the examples, it was totally different. This lone analogy turned into a argument because there is a conclusion on one side of the comparison and the same conclusion for the other side.
For example:
Inside is to outside as upside is to downside.
Fish is to water as bird is to air.
These examples are just analogy and not a reasoning by analogy because we are just comparing two things and didn't conclude anything.
An example for reasoning by analogy would be is like the one from the Epstein text:
"Blaming soldiers for war is like blaming firemen for fires."
Analysis: A comparison but meant as an argument:
We don't blame firemen for fires.
Firemen and fire are like soldiers and wars.
Therefore, we should not blame soldiers for war.
This example is more of a reasoning by analogy and not just an analogy because you are arguing that since we don't blame firemen for fires, then we should not blame soldiers for war because firemen and fire are like soldiers and wars.
After reading your post I got more confused. I don't think you actually grasp the concept and are merely glossing over the title. I am still truly confused as to how argument with analogy works. There are so many POSSIBLE ways to pick apart an analogy/comparison that it makes it hard to decipher what exactly are they referring to when they say that two things are the same or if they are different. Everything has its own unique characteristics so even if there are similarities I see much more differences.
ReplyDeleteSorry. I read what I posted and I totally didn't make sense. LOL I edited it. I'm not sure if it makes a lot more sense than how I explained before. I kind of get how reasoning by analogy works but I just do not know how to explain it. Sorry for confusing more.
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