The analogicalargument's epistemic force is proportional to the structural overlap between the reference case (oneself) and the target case, as Davidson's principle of interpretive charity presupposes shared propositional attitudes.
?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
No one has weighed in yet. Be the first to share reasons for or against this statement.
Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.
Target case(what you're trying to figure out or explain using analogy)
The new situation or person you're trying to understand or make a claim about by comparing it to the reference case.
analogical argument(Formal characterization of argument from analogy)
An ampliative argument of the form: S is similar to T in certain known respects; S has some further feature Q; therefore T also has feature Q or some feature Q* similar to Q. The conclusion is not guaranteed to follow from the premises.
principle of interpretive charity(as used in philosophy of interpretation and understanding ancient texts)
The idea that when trying to understand someone else's beliefs or practices, you should interpret them in the most reasonable and favorable way possible, rather than assuming they were confused or wrong.
propositional attitudes(Fodor's 1980 reply to Searle)
Mental states characteristic of an organism that has a brain, such as beliefs and desires, which computational symbol manipulation alone is insufficient to produce.