Abstract
Review of critics of the logical positivist description of scientific method and of academic accounts of policymaking suggests that analogies and metaphors are central features of the social-scientific enterprise. Critics of metaphorical thinking in social science argue that these “devices” are used uncritically and obscure reality because they are too intuitive and too interpretative to be considered scientific. But this approach is probably dangerous because it assumes that metaphors, analogies, and models have only scientific consequences. As devices of thinking, they also have effects on public life as well. Assessment of analogies and metaphors must depend on their implications for reforming the world. At issue is the question of whether policy science uses analogies and metaphors in a responsible fashion and whether policy scientists are willing to take responsibility for the world they imagine.
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Rosenthal, D.C. Metaphors, models, and analogies in social science and public policy. Polit Behav 4, 283–301 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00990109
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00990109