The Domain Constraint on Analogy and Analogical Argument
Domain constraint, the requirement that analogues be selected from "the same category," inheres in the popular saying "you can't compare apples and oranges" and the textbook principle "the greater the number of shared properties, the stronger the argument from analogy.&...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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University of Windsor
1995-01-01
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Series: | Informal Logic |
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Online Access: | https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/2397 |
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author | William R. Brown |
author_facet | William R. Brown |
author_sort | William R. Brown |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Domain constraint, the requirement that analogues be selected from "the same category," inheres in the popular saying "you can't compare apples and oranges" and the textbook principle "the greater the number of shared properties, the stronger the argument from analogy." I identify roles of domains in biological, linguistic, and legal analogy, supporting the account of law with a computer word search of judicial decisions. I argue that the category treatments within these disciplines cannot be exported to general informal logic, where the relevance of properties, not their number, must be the logically prior criterion for evaluating analogical arguments. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-13T23:56:57Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-cefc0ae0311c46d5865d129c3b2f5322 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 0824-2577 2293-734X |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-13T23:56:57Z |
publishDate | 1995-01-01 |
publisher | University of Windsor |
record_format | Article |
series | Informal Logic |
spelling | doaj.art-cefc0ae0311c46d5865d129c3b2f53222022-12-22T02:23:52ZengUniversity of WindsorInformal Logic0824-25772293-734X1995-01-0117110.22329/il.v17i1.2397The Domain Constraint on Analogy and Analogical ArgumentWilliam R. BrownDomain constraint, the requirement that analogues be selected from "the same category," inheres in the popular saying "you can't compare apples and oranges" and the textbook principle "the greater the number of shared properties, the stronger the argument from analogy." I identify roles of domains in biological, linguistic, and legal analogy, supporting the account of law with a computer word search of judicial decisions. I argue that the category treatments within these disciplines cannot be exported to general informal logic, where the relevance of properties, not their number, must be the logically prior criterion for evaluating analogical arguments.https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/2397domain constraintissue (topic) relevancefolk logicstare decisisinformal logicselectional features |
spellingShingle | William R. Brown The Domain Constraint on Analogy and Analogical Argument Informal Logic domain constraint issue (topic) relevance folk logic stare decisis informal logic selectional features |
title | The Domain Constraint on Analogy
and Analogical Argument |
title_full | The Domain Constraint on Analogy
and Analogical Argument |
title_fullStr | The Domain Constraint on Analogy
and Analogical Argument |
title_full_unstemmed | The Domain Constraint on Analogy
and Analogical Argument |
title_short | The Domain Constraint on Analogy
and Analogical Argument |
title_sort | domain constraint on analogy and analogical argument |
topic | domain constraint issue (topic) relevance folk logic stare decisis informal logic selectional features |
url | https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/2397 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT williamrbrown thedomainconstraintonanalogyandanalogicalargument AT williamrbrown domainconstraintonanalogyandanalogicalargument |