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1. Analogy
Reasoning by
comparison

2. Argument by Analogy
 Analogies are based on similarity,
comparison, or precedent.
 The inference being made is that two
things which resemble each other in
certain known respects will resemble each
other in unknown respects.
– example: Many who oppose abortion compare it
to the Holocaust, when millions of Jews were
exterminated by the Nazis.
– example: An atheist says, “I don’t believe in
Jesus any more than I believe in the Easter
Bunny, Santa Clause, or the Tooth Fairy.”

3. Some sample analogies
 Plato compared the
world we perceive to
shadows on a cave wall.
 Comparing human
consciousness to a
flame on a candle
 Comparing scientists
involved in cloning
research to Dr.
Frankenstein.

4. Recent arguments using analogy
 Comparing Barack Obama to John F.
Kennedy
 Comparing Sarah Palin with Dan Quayle
 Hillary Clinton compared herself to “Rocky”
 Comparing marijuana laws with the
prohibition era
 Comparing the war in Iraq with the war in
Viet Nam
 Comparing Osamu Bin Laden, Saddam
Hussein, and Kim Jong il.

5. Political cartoons often rely on
visual analogies

6. Is Martha Stewart a modern day
Nelson Mandela?
 After being sentenced to five months in
prison and two years' probation, Martha
Stewart invoked the name of Nelson
Mandela, South Africa's anti-apartheid
hero, saying “there are many, many good
people who have gone to prison.“
 But there is a difference:
– Stewart’s crime was for personal gain. She
was convicted of lying to investigators about
insider trading.
– Mandela was a political prisoner. He was
jailed for 27 years for opposing racial
apartheid in South Africa.

7. The holocaust and factory farming?
 “[A]s long as human beings will
go on shedding the blood of
animals, there will never be any
peace. There is only one little
step from killing animals to
creating gas chambers à la Hitler
and concentration camps à la
Stalin. … There will be no justice
as long as man will stand with a
knife or with a gun and destroy
those who are weaker than he is.”
—Isaac Bashevis Singer

8. Kobe Bryant and Martin Luther
King?
 When Kobe Bryant accepted an award
for “favorite male athlete” at the Teen
Choice Awards in Los Angeles, he
invoked the words of Martin Luther King
that, “an injustice anywhere threatens
justice everywhere.”
 Is Kobe’s situation analogous to M.L.
King’s? Is a rape allegation analogous to
a civil rights issue?
(Note: King actually wrote “Injustice anywhere
is a threat to justice everywhere” in his Letter
from a Birmingham Jail)

9. An analogy from the movie
“Clueless”
So, OK, like right now, for example, the Haitians need
to come to America. But some people are all “What
about the strain on our resources?” But it's like, when I
had this garden party for my father's birthday right? But
people came that like, did not R.S.V.P., so I had to haul
ass to the kitchen, squish in extra place settings, but it
was like, the more the merrier! And so, if the
government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange
some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians.
And in conclusion, may I please remind you that it does
not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty?”

10. Analogies about life
 “Life is like a box of chocolates…” (Forrest
Gump)
 “Life is a sport. Drink it up” (Gatorade)
 “It’s a jungle out there.”
 Life is a “rat race.”
 “Life is a bitch and then you die.”
 “Getting married is like hitching two oxen to
the same yoke.”
 “Being a student is like being a sponge. The
less you know the more you can soak up.”
 “Employees are like nails. You have to hit
them on the head to get them to work.”
 “Sex is like beer. When it’s good, it’s really
really good, and when it’s bad, it’s still pretty
good!”

11. Politics as Sports analogies
 “She hit that one out of the park.”
 “This is only the first round of the playoffs.”
 “They’re not pulling any punches.”
 “That was like hitting a jumper at the
buzzer.”
 “He should probably punt.”
 “He gave a great half-time speech.”
 “This is only round __ of a __round fight.”
 “He’s got the ball, now he’s got to run with
it.”
 “That was a big time fumble.”

12. applications of analogies
 iinn ppoolliittiiccss:: comparing the
Clinton-Lewinsky scandal to
Watergate
 iinn llaaww:: case precedent or
“stare decisis,” statutory rape
laws as sexist
 IInn eeccoonnoommiiccss:: viewing
economic competition as the
“survival of the fittest,” Adam
Smith’s “invisible hand” Comparing the target of
a scandal to Humpty
Dumpty

13. More applications of analogies
 IInn hhiissttoorryy:: likening France’ refusal to vote
for an invasion of Iraq as analogous to
Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of
Hitler leading up to World War II.
 iinn sscciieennccee aanndd mmeeddiicciinnee:: likening the
human brain to a computer, HIV to an
invading army, the human heart to an
electric pump, DNA molecule is like a
ladder
 iinn rreelliiggiioonn:: the body as a temple of the
holy spirit, the tree of knowledge, Jesus as
a shepherd

14. literal versus figurative analogies
 Literal analogies compare things that are
within the same class, whereas figurative
analogies entail comparisons from different
classes
 lliitteerraall:: prohibition didn’t work with alcohol and it
won’t work with marijuana either
 lliitteerraall:: Barry Bonds is the Roger Maris of the
1990’s.
 lliitteerraall:: The bible is to Christianity what the Qur’an is
to Islam
 ffiigguurraattiivvee:: John McCain’s “reform” mantra is like
“putting lipstick on a pig.”
 ffiigguurraattiivvee:: gangs as a “cancer on society”
 ffiigguurraattiivvee:: teen rage as a “ticking time-bomb”
 ffiigguurraattiivvee:: the stain on Monica Lewinsky’s dress
was the “smoking gun” in the White House sex
scandal.

15. Literal versus figurative analogy
 Barack Obama is the
John F. Kennedy of the
21st century
 “Barack Obama…has
built up an excitement
such as no candidate has
created since President
Kennedy in 1960... Like
Kennedy, he combines
personal magnetism with
a strong appeal to
American idealism. “
(William Rees-Mogg, Feb
2008, London Times)
 Barack is a Mac, Hillary
is a PC.
 Obama, like the Mac,
seems almost too good
to be true. He's young,
hip, inspiring…. As the
hipster in the Mac
commercial loves to
point out, a PC isn't
actually all that reliable:
reboot, reboot. We all
experienced the
rollercoaster ride that
was…Bill Clinton's
presidency.”

16. Literal analogy
 Comparing TV’s rating
system with the movie
rating system

17. figurative computer analogy
 A computer is
analogous to a
toilet?

18. Figurative analogy
 Comparing Christians
to potatoes in a stew
 potatoes absorb the
flavor of whatever they
are cooked with. In like
manner, Christians are
inundated daily with all
kinds of sin.

19. The “balloon” analogy of the
universe

20. tests of analogies
 Are the two things being compared similar
in their essential, relevant respects?
– example: Iran and North Korea
– Both want to be nuclear powers, but
– Iran is an oil rich nation, while N.
Korea is poor
 “Surface” features: superficial
resemblances between two things, such
as size, color, appearance
 “Structural” features: similarities in
underlying characteristics
– example: comparing “spam” with
“junk mail.”
 surface similarly: both may be
annoying, unwanted
 structural difference: mass
postal mailings still have to pay
postage. Spam costs nothing to
send.
 Are important dissimilarities being
ignored or overlooked?
– example: comparing racism and
homophobia: Were laws restricting
Black’s civil rights analogous to
laws restricting gay’s rights
– the former target a person’s race,
the latter target a person’s
behavior Have enough points of
similarity been drawn?
 Are there more dissimilarities than
similarities?
– MPAA analogy of stealing a car or
purse to downloading a movie
 Are any points of difference non-critical
to the analogy?

21. MPAA anti-piracy warning
 Structural problems
with the analogy
– Intellectual property law is
not the same as regular
property law
– File “sharing” is not the
same thing as stealing.
Libraries loan out books
for free.
– Is the crime in uploading
or downloading?
– The punishment should fit
the crime

22. Examples of tests of analogies
– Example: compensation for Japanese who were
interned during WWII versus reparations for
African Americans who ancestors were slaves
– Example: comparing the government to the
private sector (e.g., the DMV, post-office, public
schools, etc. with private enterprise)
– Example: comparing scientific accomplishments
(putting a man on the moon) to solutions to
social problems