Argumentation by analogy: A systematic analytical study of an argument scheme

This dissertation is a systematic analytical study of the argument scheme of argumentation by analogy. The dissertation adopts the framework of the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation and proposes improved methods for interpretation, reconstruction, and evaluation of argumentation by analogy. The dissertation also provides a general framework for argumentation that explains the concepts of validity and inference in a unified way. It gives an account of how to understand complex analogy argumentation that is consistent with the pragma-dialectical understanding of argument schemes and argument structures, as well as providing a unified and comprehensive account of the counterarguments that can be used against analogy argumentation.