Between similarity and analogy: Rethinking the role of prototypes in law and cognitive linguistics

In this chapter we aim to show how similarity comparison and analogical reasoning are deeply intertwined, playing very intricate roles both in classification of legal reality and in legal reasoning. In particular, we intend to underline how the intertwinement between similarity and analogy is influenced by the necessity and the pressure produced by the legal decision-making process. To do so, we will draw new insights from prototype theory, a theory of cognitive and linguistic classification which also builds on the fundamental cognitive role of similarity-based and analogy-based mappings. In particular, we will argue that similarity recognition in law, like analogy, involves a kind of structural alignment.