Search

1. Basic Structures The term “modern peri…

1. Definition In general the word “analogy” means correspondence or similarity between two or more entities that are neither completely the same nor completely different. Scientifically the term is used (analogia nominum) with reference not only to the comparable things themselves but also to the relations within which they may be said to be comparable. Hence analogy takes on its strictest form as proportionality ( analogia proportionalitatis: a : b = c : d; e.g., 9 : 3 = 6 : 2). The difference between this and simple proportion (analogia proportionis) is that the analogy here invol…

1. Term and Issues The term “reason” derives from Lat. ratio. Earlier in history Gk. nous and logos expressed some of the same meanings. Reason is usually said to be an intellectual or mental ability or faculty, one distinguished from other psychological or bodily powers or activities of will, emotion, and sensation. Philosophers work with diverse concepts of reason and use the term in different ways. A number of issues arise in considering the nature, operations, and limitations of human reason. Is it a theoretical faculty, an ability to grasp the natures of things, to understand the world? Is it an ability to envisage possibilities, with links to imagination? Is reason intuitive, a mental “beholding of truth,” or does it calculate by means of specifiable rules as in a mathematical proof? Does ¶ reason have the practical orientation of skill in accomplishing things, of intelligence applied to everyday life? How does reason relate to nonrational experiencing…