A review of meta-argumentative theories of analogy

The key idea of meta-argumentative theories of argument by analogy is that arguments by analogy compare two arguments in order to show whether or not the premises of one of them are adequately connected to its conclusion, and therefore the argument has the logical properties that depend on that conn...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Marraud González, Humberto
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/725780
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10486/725780
https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11245-025-10228-x
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Argument by analogy
Conditions of rebuttal
Modifiers
Parity of reasons
Weighing
Filosofía
Descripción
Sumario:The key idea of meta-argumentative theories of argument by analogy is that arguments by analogy compare two arguments in order to show whether or not the premises of one of them are adequately connected to its conclusion, and therefore the argument has the logical properties that depend on that connection. The premises-conclusion relationship can be under stood in terms of inferences or in terms of reasons. Consequently I distinguish between an inference-based version and a reasons-based version of the meta-argumentative theory. I argue that an inference-based theory of argument by analogy cannot easily account for neither the usual way of attacking an argument by analogy nor the predominance of counter analogy over direct analogy. A reasons-based meta-argumentative theory does not face the same difficulties because it recognizes the contextual nature of logical evaluation, distinguishing between the parts of an argument (premises and conclusion) and the contextual factors relevant to its logical evaluation (conditions and modifiers). Contextualizing logi cal properties enables us to distinguish between cases in which two arguments are not analogous and cases in which their contexts of evaluation are not analogous. Context-dependence also explains why analogies are used more often to show that an argument is invalid than to show that an argument is valid