The Maxims of Common Sense: Strategic Manoeuvring with Figurative Analogies

While in literal analogies the concrete characteristics of two items from the same domain are compared, in figurative analogies a comparison is made between items from very different domains. Since it is not the actual (literal) similarities and differences that are at stake in figurative analogy, this type of argument should not be seen as analogy argumentation but as a way of expressing a different type of argument scheme. If what is expressed by way of a figurative analogy can also been said without this indirect mode of expression, the question arises why an arguer would use a figurative analogy. In this paper three strategic functions of figurative analogy are distinguished and applied to an example drawn from Dutch politics.