THE NATURE, MECHANISM AND APPLICATIONS OF ANALOGICAL THINKING

Abstract

Analogy is a type of thinking and an inference procedure, frequently used in art, education, science and philosophy, as well as in everyday life. However, opinions on the definition and applicability of analogy are as varied as the scope of its use. This study aims to explore the nature of analogy, the mechanism and the various stages of analogical reasoning, as well as to discuss the role of analogy in the process of acquiring knowledge. To this end, we examine both views on analogies in classical philosophy and the results of contemporary research. The study shows that analogy is one of the basic elements of human cognition, and also reveals the relationship of analogy to such cognitive acts as analysis, synthesis, generalization and abstraction. We also discuss the subjective and objective foundations of knowledge obtained by analogy, and the conditions for increasing the reliability of analogical inferenses.

Keywords

• Analogy
• similarity
• cognition
• knowing
• ampliative knowledge.

ANALOJİK DÜŞÜNMENİN DOĞASI, MEKANİZMASI VE UYGULAMALARI

Öz

Analoji, gündelik yaşamda olduğu gibi, sanat, eğitim, bilim ve felsefede sıkça başvurulan düşünme türü ve yargıya varma sürecidir. Ne var ki, analojinin tanımı ve uygulanabilirliği konusundaki görüşler, kullanım alanları kadar çeşitlilik arz etmektedir. Bu araştırma, analojik düşünmenin doğası ve mekanizması ile çeşitli aşamalarını incelemeyi ve analojinin bilgi edinme sürecindeki rolünü değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu doğrultuda incelememizde, hem klasik felsefede analoji konusundaki görüşlere, hem de çağdaş araştırmaların bulgularına başvurulmaktadır. Araştırmada, analojinin insan bilişinin temel unsurlarından biri olduğu gösterilerek, analojinin analiz, sentez, genelleme ve soyutlama gibi bilişsel edimlerle ilgisi değerlendirilmektedir. Ayrıca, analoji yoluyla elde edilen bilgilerin öznel ve nesnel dayanakları, analojik çıkarımların güvenilirliğini arttırma koşulları tartışılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Analoji
• benzerlik
• biliş
• bilme
• ampliatif bilgi.

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