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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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: William R. Brown
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Windsor 1995-01-01
Series:Informal Logic
Subjects:
Online Access:https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/2397
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author William R. Brown
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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.
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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
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