Questions tagged [analogy]
30 questions
16
votes
16 answers
Why can't numbers be 'used up'?
I was speaking with a young student who has been learning about addition and subtraction (essentially functions, but he doesn't know that yet) with the idea of a 'number machine' and he could not understand how when you put '2' into the machine it's…
Confused
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Are analogies between ethics and mathematics philosophically coherent?
Analogies between ethics and mathematics are pretty common – probably because of their shared a priori nature. Philosophical laymen use them, like “Scott Alexander” (no, you don't need to know him), who argues in the context of the fat man problem…
viuser
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4
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A post in the desert - a metaphor used in a false-analogy argument in support of conservative institutions. Details please
A metaphor is sometimes used by those who philosophise in favour of conservative institutions such as monarchy or English public schools. It is a picture of something like a post standing in the desert, that you encounter when travelling and do not…
user19558
4
votes
1 answer
why analogies work?
I am a philosophy noob.
I have been reading about analogies and how they form the core of cognition.
Consider this analogy:
Putting a resistor reduces the flow of electrons in a wire.
Putting a small obstacle in a narrow street reduces the flow of…
Trewesta Anamoly
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4
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3 answers
Fallacies and biases of analogical reasoning
When we observe a dog
wounded in a traffic accident, for instance, we infer that the dog must be in pain, based on the
analogy between humans and dogs and what we know about humans. The structure of this piece
of reasoning can be unpacked as…
quanity
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Can the product of creativity always be classified as analogy?
Without concepts there can be no thought, and without
analogies there can be no concepts.
—Hofstadter and Sander
Part of the creative process of a sculpter is to visualize a shape within a stone and then create an analogue of that shape from the…
user64314
3
votes
0 answers
Does anyone distinguish linguistic univocity/analogy from metaphysical univocity/analogy?
Classical Theists (and other Realists) inherit Plato's Theory of Forms, and posit the existence of Forms such as Goodness, Truth, Beauty, Justice, and so on. Non-Christian Realists might say these Forms all exist as themselves, but Christian…
curiousdannii
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What are the similarities and differences in the ways Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas define the "Analogy of Being"?
As is well known to us all, "Analogy of Being" is a very important term created by the Scholasticism of St. Thomas Aquinas. While this term cannot be found in Aristotle's original work, the similar notion of Aristotle is the "analogia…
Alexander
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Are analogical middle terms sufficient for a valid demonstration?
William A. Wallace, O.P., in “Thomism and the Quantum Enigma,” The Thomist 61 (1997): 455–468, claims that
analogical middle terms are sufficient for a valid demonstration
and that this is
a teaching that is distinctive of Thomism
that other…
Geremia
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is there a theory of social 'vaccination' against destructive ideologies?
One can notice certain similarities between domains of
biology, in which live organisms cope with viruses
sociology, where societies cope with destructive ideologies
Drawing an analogy, we can imagine practices of social 'vaccination', where…
IlliakaillI
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What is Aristotle's view of plant generation?
In Book 1 of On the Generation of Animals, Aristotle gives his view of plant generation.
In Book 1.1, Aristotle writes:
But all those creatures which do not move, as the testacea and animals that live by clinging to something else, inasmuch as…
Abhishek Yadav
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2
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What are all attributes of God and what is the manner of knowing them according to Aquinas?
What are all of the divine attributes, and in which way is each of them predicted of God (univocal, equivocal or analogical way; if in an analogical way, what kind of analogy)?
An answer should be given from the viewpoint of Aquinas (or/and from his…
Thom
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Do those who deny a univocal understanding of "God is good" conflate sense and connotation?
Several theologians following Aquinas have said that when we say things like "God is good" that this must mean something different to when we call other things good; this is called analogical use of language.
For Aquinas, language can only be used…
curiousdannii
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What undergraduate-level books focus on analogical arguments?
I want books that dive deeper into nothing but analogies. I went to the library and riffled the books in the Bibliography of SEP's Analogy and Analogical Reasoning, but none were introductions at an undergraduate level! I have just music degrees,…
user8572
2
votes
1 answer
Is this an inductive or a deductive argument?
Two flowers of the same cultivar were planted in adjacent plots .
The first was fertilized with Miracle-Gro and it flourished (2); The second was not and it din't(3) .
Therefore , Miracle-Gro stimulates plant growth .
I think it's deductive but…
Abdelrhman Fawzy
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