Reasoning from analogy
An analogy is a special form of reasoning, which has some similarities with reasoning from specific cases. Reasoning by analogy involves drawing an equally specific conclusion from specific premises via a comparison of like aspects. Good analogies avoid comparisons between items that have too many dissimilarities. For example Imagine a friend gave you a guinea pig to look after but forgot to tell you anything about what to feed it. You might say to yourself, 'I have a guinea pig and do not know...
Avoiding implied premises
these premises is a reflection of the difficulty of thinking deeply enough about complex issues. When we do, it is usually because we have unconsciously assumed some complex relationship that, in fact, needs more open analysis. Here is an example. Imagine we reasoned that 'The economy is growing strongly at the moment, so employment will also grow strongly'. If we look closely, this explanation does not represent a clear analysis. The first claim puts together two components 'economy' and...