PHI 1101 Lecture 10: PHI1101 Lecture 10

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: Mark Brown

Document Summary

An analogy is a comparison of two or more tings that are alike in specific ways. Analogies can be used to argue inductively for a conclusion. Such arguments are analogical inductions or argument by analogy. Because those two (or more) things are similar in several ways, they must be similar. I1: thing a has properties p1, p2, p3 and p4. I2: thing b also has has properties p1, p2 and p3. Therefore, thing b likely has property p4. Like all non-deductive reasoning, good arguments from analogies only provide probable support for their conclusions. The more similarities there are between the things being compared, the more likely the conclusion will be truthful. The question is whether the comparison is meaningful or useful. The more relevant the similarities between the things being compared, the more probable the conclusion. Relevant similarities are important, but its not the sheer number of similarities that matter.