Synonyms
The Concepts “Analogy” and “Invention”
Analogy
An analogy is usually considered as a structural mapping between a source (base) and a target domain. To establish an analogy, common substructures of the two domains are identified and mapped to each other, resulting in an analogical relation. The establishment of an analogy is usually governed by certain constraints, like systematicity, structural consistency, or a one-to-one restriction on possible mappings, although there is no general accepted set of such principles. Analogy-making can also be regarded as the establishment of a generalization, identifying an abstract core that consists of the common structures of both domains and ignores surface appearance and domain peculiarities (cf. Fig. 1). Analogies are usually not judged right or wrong; rather, they can be more or less plausible, based on the degree of structural coherence that they exhibit, possibly depending on the context and...
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Krumnack, U., Kühnberger, KU., Schwering, A., Besold, T.R. (2017). Analogies and Analogical Reasoning in Invention. In: Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6616-1_128-2
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