The type of reasoning that I found most difficult to understand was reasoning by analogy. According to our “Critical Thinking” textbook, “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.” When I first read this, I wasn’t too sure what it meant. A site that I found that helped me out was;
http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/e13.htm
On the page, analogical reasoning is discussed and an example is provided. The example given mentions the idea of buying a car and having 3 friends who bought the same car from the same person and were delighted. The conclusion you could draw is that if you were to buy the same car as your 3 friends from the same person, then you would be delighted as well.
Here is my example: “Three of my friends have the same type of Hummer vehicle and all complain that they get poor gas mileage. If I buy the same type of Hummer as them, I will have poor gas mileage as well.”
The website also gives you some criteria for evaluating analogies.
I was never really confused by this type of reasoning but it was still interesting to read your post to see where your original confusion was and how your extra research helped you figure it out. The link you provided does give good information on this topic and I am glad you included the link for some people who still may be confused; it will serve as a good resource for them as well. Your example was also very good and I think it gave a clear picture of what the structure for reasoning by analogy is like. Good blog I enjoyed it!
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