"Abhay’s mind is a cave, deep, dark and full of bats." Which of the following…
2024
"Abhay’s mind is a cave, deep, dark and full of bats." Which of the following is correct about the above statement?
Answer: C. It contains analogy. — ConceptAn analogy is a stated resemblance drawn between two otherwise unlike things, asserted in order to describe or illuminate one of them; the comparison…
- A.
It contains analogical argument.
- B.
It is a valid and sound argument.
- C.
It contains analogy.
- D.
It is a valid but not a sound argument.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
An analogy is a stated resemblance drawn between two otherwise unlike things, asserted in order to describe or illuminate one of them; the comparison itself is the whole of what is put forward.
An analogical argument goes one step further: it takes such a resemblance as a premise and then infers, as a conclusion, that the two things must share some further property as well.
"Valid" and "sound" are properties of arguments alone — validity describes how a conclusion follows from its premises, and soundness is validity together with premises that are true. Where nothing is inferred, neither term has anything to attach to.
Application
The sentence sets Abhay’s mind beside a cave and carries three points of resemblance across to it: deep, dark and full of bats.
That transfer is a metaphorical comparison offered to describe the mind, and it is the whole of what the sentence asserts.
No further property is inferred from the resemblance — there is no "therefore", no "hence", and no second claim derived from the first, so no premise-and-conclusion structure exists here.
With no inference present the sentence is not an argument at all, so the questions of validity and of soundness never arise for it.
Cross-check
Setting the two notions side by side makes the boundary explicit:
Feature | Analogy | Analogical argument |
|---|---|---|
Structure | A resemblance is asserted | The resemblance is a premise and a further shared property is concluded |
Signal words | None required | therefore, hence, so, it follows that |
Present here? | Yes — mind compared to a cave | No — nothing is concluded from the comparison |
An analogical argument would have had to run: Abhay’s mind is like a cave; caves harbour bats; therefore Abhay’s mind harbours bats. That inferential step is absent.
Hence the statement contains analogy — a comparison, and nothing beyond it.