Analogia jako metoda metafizyki

Abstract

This article tries to describe the problem of the analogy, primarily based on the works of the Polish philosopher Rev. M. A. Krąpiec. Not taking into account the historic nature of the theme, to which the above-mentioned author sacrifices much of his own publications, the article deals with the following matters: the lexical and current (pre-scientific) understanding of the analogy, the analogousness of reality (of being), the analogy of cognition, and the analogy of predication. The term “analogy” is used in pre-scientific language, in only a vaguely defined sense. Its meaning approaches the meaning of “similarity.” However, the term “analogy” does differ from “similarity” since analogy contains dissimilarity as well as similarity. The first and basic philosophical level of the problem discussed is the analogy of real being itself in which we register relations between various components of this real being as relations between various concrete real beings. All of these relations constitute the analogical unity of reality itself and are the object of analogical knowledge. The analogical knowledge as the second level of analogy manifests itself as: metaphorical analogy, analogy of attribution, analogy of general proportionality, and analogy of transcendental proportionality. The third level of analogy is the analogy of predication appearing in our judgments where the analogical „is” is as judgmental as copula (in its cohesive, assertive and affirmative function). Judgmental predicates are analogical too.