Technical Communication Quarterly Mar 2008

Analogy in Scientific Argumentation

Keith Gibson Utah State University

Abstract

Analogical reasoning has long been an important tool in the production of scientific knowledge, yet many scientists remain hesitant to fully endorse (or even admit) its use. As the teachers of scientific and technical writers, we have an opportunity and responsibility to teach them to use analogy without their writing becoming “overly inductive,” as Aristotle warned. To that end, I here offer an analysis of an example of the effective use of analogy in Rodney Brooks's “Intelligence Without Representation.” In this article, Brooks provides a model for incorporating these tools into an argument by building four of them into an enthymeme that clearly organizes his argument. This combination of inductive and deductive reasoning helped the article become a very influential piece of scholarship in artificial intelligence research, and it can help our students learn to use analogy in their own writing. Every one who effects persuasion through proof does in fact use either enthymemes or examples: there is no other way. (Aristotle, 1984b Aristotle. 1984b. The rhetoric and the poetics of Aristotle, Edited by: Roberts, W. R. and Bywater, I. New York: The Modern Library. [Google Scholar], p. 26)

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2008-03-17
DOI
10.1080/10572250701878868
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Topics
classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism argument artificial intelligence
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Robledo et al. (2025)
    Critical and Creative Quantum Literacies
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  2. Keeling et al. (2025)
    Rhetorical Creativity in Particle Physics and the Crisis of Naturalness
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  3. Little (2014)
    From Chick to Child: The Role of Analogy in the Making of Thorndike's Education…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Zhang (2013)
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  5. Little et al. (2012)
    Analogy in William Rowan Hamilton's New Algebra
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  1. Little (2008)
    The Role of Analogy in George Gamow's Derivation of Drop Energy
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CrossRef global citation count: 13 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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