Argument from Analogy

#1

Post by mikrosom » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 6:43 PM UTC

Argument from Analogy
en.wikipedia.org

Re: Argument from Analogy

#2

Post by Jugurtha » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 6:49 PM UTC

"X [animal] doesn't do Y [activity], therefore Y is bad for you." is one of my favorites.

I remind people they're not a cow/lion/wolf etc.

Re: Argument from Analogy

#3

Post by mikrosom » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 6:55 PM UTC

Jugurtha wrote: post #2

"X [animal] doesn't do Y [activity], therefore Y is bad for you." is one of my favorites. I remind people they're not a cow/lion/wolf etc.

Exactly. It's surprising how many bestselling books are full of similar false analogies that one would fall to on a first or even second read.

Re: Argument from Analogy

#4

Post by jfengel » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 6:59 PM UTC

I find that analogies are nearly useless for argumentation. Either the two situations are identical, or you've now shifted the argument to the ways in which the analogy is wrong, which derails the original point.

Often, it just seems insulting: "X is like Y, and you obviously agree with Y, therefore your failure to accept X means you're stupid".

Analogies can be useful as a pedagogical tool, where the teacher is aware of the limits of the analogy and can focus students on the similarities rather than the differences. As an argumentation tactic, it gets my hackles up whenever I encounter it.