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1 results

  • Chapter 1 - Analogy in Classical Greece

  • Roger M. White, University of Leeds, M. J. S. Hodge, University of Leeds, Gregory Radick, University of Leeds
  • Book:
    Darwin's Argument by Analogy
    Published online:
    21 October 2021
    Print publication:
    04 November 2021, pp 23-50
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  • Summary

    The concept of analogy was first analysed in classical Greek thought. By 'analogy' was meant a four-term relation: A is to B as C is to D. Initially, within Greek mathematics, analogy expressed the equality of the relative magnitudes of two line pairs, when the ratio of line A to line B is identical with the ratio of line C to line D. An analogy asserted a proportionality. And the theory of similar triangles exhibits the basic form of argument by analogy, with a set of valid proofs showing which additional properties, equiangularity say, the two triangles must share. In Euclid are all the features of the analogical relationship relevant to our enquiry. For analogy was soon taken beyond its mathematical confines, especially by Aristotle, in exploring how these geometrical concepts can be applied in empirical contexts. These explorations kept the commitment to proportionality, which persists in every modern analyst of analogy knowingly upholding the Aristotelian tradition.