Faulty Analogy

Faulty Analogy Synonyms

The faulty analogy is also called the false analogy.

The term has no direct Latin equivalent.

Uses of Faulty Analogy

Faulty analogies can appear in many forms. Here’s a simple use of the faulty analogy.

Of course, two cars don’t necessarily share other attributes in common. One car could be electric. In fact, both could be electric!

Faulty analogies can be more absurd than this car example. As long as two things share something in common, a false analogy can be made.

The logical error of this isn’t hard to explain, but is nevertheless important to understand.

Faulty Analogy as a Logical Fallacy

To put it simply, a faulty analogy is a logical fallacy because the premise isn't true.

The premises here is, "Because these things are alike." However, in reality, while they share whiteness in common, they do not share everything in common.

A faulty analogy assumes that one similarity means multiple similarities. Since this is not always true, to make that assumption is a logical fallacy.

Faulty Analogy Example (Essay)

The examples so far have been simple, to illustrate what a faulty analogy is at its most basic level. However, you are unlikely to find such a blunt and simple use of faulty analogy in an essay. Here’s how a faulty analogy might actually appear.

This essay excerpt contains multiple fallacies, but can you spot the faulty analogy? The faulty analogy is that people with minimum wage jobs in Outlandia are the same kind of people with minimum wage jobs elsewhere.

Outlandia is a suburban area, and is most likely not indicative of the entire city, much less the entire state or country. To equate different groups simply because those groups all hold minimum wage jobs is to employ a faulty analogy.

` Faulty analogies can be found anywhere.

Tips to Avoid Faulty Analogy

To avoid creating a faulty analogy, here are a few things to look out for.

• Don’t make assumptions. This means that you shouldn’t take something to be true without evidence. If a topic is hotly debated, you should not take the truthfulness of one side for granted, just because you have agreed with “that side” in the past.

• Go a step deeper in your research. Cursory research can be as dangerous as no research. In fact, it can be worse! Consider again the essay excerpt. The evidence they misused gave their conclusion an air of legitimacy. Poor research can give you and your readers a false sense of truthfulness.

• Look for differences in things. When drawing an analogy, don't just look for things in common. Also try to look for things not in common. This will help you not to create a faulty analogy.

The Difference Between Faulty Analogy and False Cause

As you know, a faulty analogy is saying that two things are alike in other ways just because they are alike in one way. On the other hand, a false cause is something different.

Say that Frank checks his phone, and then he gets mad at his friends. The false cause fallacy is to assume that Frank got mad at his friends because he checked his phone. This might be true, but he could have gotten mad for any other reason, too.

A faulty analogy is not concerned with cause and effect, unlike the false cause.

Difference Between Faulty Analogy and Hasty Generalization

More similar to the faulty analogy is the hasty generalization.

A faulty analogy is a kind of hasty generalization because the fallacious party reaches a broad conclusion about something based on its similarity to one thing. However, not all hasty generalizations are faulty analogies. Here’s an example.

This erroneous conclusion is based on a statistic, not an unsound analogy, which makes it a hasty generalization but not a faulty analogy.