The most precious possession: The place of analogy in the work of Marshall McLuhan

This article explores how analogy informed the work of Marshall McLuhan. Analogy helped McLuhan to make his discoveries and to argue his points. It also played a critical role in his philosophical realism. Through consideration of analogy in its various modes, the reader of this article will learn how the analogy of improper proportionality (also known as metaphor) differs from the analogy of proper proportionality, a term that frequently appears across McLuhan’s works. This extended reflection on analogy has important implications for the study of metaphor, metaphysics and media ecological praxis.