Consider the following statement and select the correct code stating the…

Concept: An argument is analogical when it draws its conclusion from a resemblance between two situations rather than from a universal law (deduction) or from repeated observations (induction) — the conclusion is only as strong as the similarity between the two cases being compared.

Application: The statement compares two situations that resemble each other — an entire field of millet in which every seed is capable of growing, yet only one grain is supposed to sprout, and the infinite universe in which countless comparable worlds exist, yet only Earth is supposed to be populated. Because the two situations are alike in this respect (a vast collection of comparable units where singling out just one exception is implausible), the statement concludes that Earth being the sole populated world is just as absurd as the millet case. No general premise about every world in space is stated, and no set of already-observed populated worlds is being generalised from — the whole force of the conclusion rests on this one comparison.

Why the other codes do not fit:

• Astronomical — names the subject-matter (space and worlds) the statement talks about, not the form of reasoning used to reach the conclusion.

• Anthropological — names the discipline that studies human societies and origins; the statement is not examining humankind at all, so this discipline label does not describe its reasoning either.

• Deductive — would require a stated general premise (for example, ‘every world in infinite space is populated’) from which the conclusion follows with certainty; no such premise appears here.

Because the conclusion rests entirely on the resemblance between the two cases, the nature of the argument is Analogical.