(1) correspondence in some respects, especially in function or position, between things otherwise dissimilar. (2) a form of logical inference, or an instance of it, based on the assumption that if two things are known to be alike in some respects, then they must be alike in other respects.
Likeness or similarities in
structure or
function but not in material existence. To argue by analogy is to infer from the fact that two
SYSTEMs that correspond in some respect must also correspond in other respects as yet unexamined. Although the form of reasoning is appealing and has given rise to numerous inventions, it is particularly liable to yield wrong conclusions. In the theory of
MODELs, an analogy between two systems is explained by one simpler system that models both but by different
HOMOMORPHISMs. (
Krippendorff )
