Ch 12: Reasoning by Analogy

An important concept that was introduced in Chapter 12 was reasoning by analogy. Reasoning by analogy begins with a comparison of two things. According to the text, “a comparison becomes reasoning by analogy when it is part of an argument: On one side of the comparison we draw a conclusion, so on the other side we should conclude the same.” For example, there was a situation regarding the legalization of marijuana in the textbook. Since alcohol and tobacco is already legalized, then why shouldn’t marijuana be the same? That’s reasoning by analogy. Alcohol and tobacco is similar to marijuana so all of them should be legal. On one side, we have already drawn the conclusion that alcohol and tobacco is legal, so on the other side we should conclude the same for marijuana. Analogies are used in our daily lives everyday. Sometimes we would make comparisons from the past and apply them to the present.