Abstract

There is little doubt that in the actual practice of science, models, metaphors, analogies, reasoning by similar cases, and other "parallel" forms of argument are often essential for the discovery of new phenomena and their theoretical interpretation. The author has assembled in five essays, culled and developed from previous ones, her ideas on some basic questions concerning models and analogies. The first chapter considers in dialogue form the role of models in science; the next section is an exploration of the questions of what is an analogy and under what conditions analogical arguments are valid. The formal logic of analogy is then developed in the third part. The theory concerning analogy put forth by Aristotle is next discussed; the last chapter treats of the explanatory function of metaphor—we are brought back to our starting point, hopefully enlightened.—P. J. M.