caa a22 4500 445798432 CHVBK 20180317145133.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11017-010-9165-6 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11017-010-9165-6 The force of dissimilar analogies in bioethics [Elektronische Daten] [Heidi Mertes, Guido Pennings] Although analogical reasoning has long been a popular method of reasoning in bioethics, current literature does not sufficiently grasp its variety. We assert that the main shortcoming is the fact that an analogy's value is often judged on the extent of similarity between the source situation and the target situation, while in (bio)ethics, analogies are often used because of certain dissimilarities rather than in spite of them. We make a clear distinction between dissimilarities that aim to reinforce a similar approach in the source situation and the target situation and dissimilarities that aim to undermine or denounce a similar approach. The former kind of dissimilarity offers the analogy more normative force than if there were no dissimilarities present; this is often overlooked by authors who regard all relevant dissimilarities as detrimental to the analogy's strength. Another observation is that an evaluation of the normative force of an analogy cannot be made independently of moral principles or theories. Without these, one cannot select which elements in an analogy are morally relevant nor determine how they should be interpreted. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2010 Analogy nationallicence Bioethics nationallicence Ethical reasoning nationallicence Dissimilarity nationallicence Mertes Heidi Bioethics Institute Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium aut Pennings Guido Bioethics Institute Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium aut Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics Springer Netherlands 32/2(2011-04-01), 117-128 1386-7415 32:2<117 2011 32 11017 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-010-9165-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-010-9165-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Mertes Heidi Bioethics Institute Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Pennings Guido Bioethics Institute Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics Springer Netherlands 32/2(2011-04-01), 117-128 1386-7415 32:2<117 2011 32 11017 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer