If one were to argue by analogy one would claim that certain things share similar characteristics in common.
The following web site:
http://info-pollution.com/analogy.htm
gives a number of examples and key parts of a argument by analogy.
It gave a number of points that helped one determine if the argument was valid, strong, and relevant. The site was meant to counter argue against the statement:
“Pork, the other white meat.”
The web site points out what is weak within the argument and what is strong. It gives other analogies we can look at and think weather or not the number and quality of similarities is good.
Reasoning by analogy is simply having a comparison be part of an argument. The things being compared must be similar in a way. The comparison helps our argument so we can draw a conclusion out of it. When done appropriately it can increase the awareness of the reader. However reasoning by analogy can be used for evil, such as propaganda. The website was really helpful in understanding this concept more thoroughly. I like how they counter argued “Pork, the other white meat.” That advertisement is implying that pork is as healthy as eating fish and chicken because they are all white but that actually is not the case. If someone was not aware of that they would probably believe that pork is healthy because of a comparison of the color of pork not how healthy is actually is.
ReplyDeleteI also, like you found that argument by analogy is one of the types of reasoning that I found difficult and challenging to learn. I was not too sure of what it meant. I learned that indeed, arguing by analogy is claiming that things share similar characteristics in common. It is a comparison in which we draw a conclusion and apply it to the other side of the comparison. A site that I found helpful was http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/e13.htm.
ReplyDeleteHere is my example: “Three of my friends have the same type of Hummer vehicle and all complain that they get poor gas mileage. If I buy the same type of Hummer as them, I will have poor gas mileage as well.”