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A New Approach to Argument by Analogy: Extrapolation and Chain Graphs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Daniel Steel
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Abstract

This essay sketches an account of extrapolation in terms of analogical reasoning that generalizes the notion of comparative process tracing. The account offered here relies on something known as chain graphs, which are used to explicate the role of “fingerprints,” or distinctive markers, as a strategy for avoiding an underdetermination problem having to do with spurious analogies. Moreover, I show how the extrapolator's circle, one of the central challenges for extrapolation, is closely tied to distinctive markers and the Markov condition as it applies to chain graphs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 77 , Issue 5 , December 2010 , pp. 1058 - 1069
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

I would like to thank an anonymous referee, Francesco Guala, Wendy Parker, Marcel Weber, and participants in at the 2008 PSA symposium on Extrapolation and Public Policy for helpful comments on earlier drafts.

References

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