In this book, Earl Mac Cormac presents an original and unified cognitive theory of metaphor using philosophical arguments which draw upon evidence from psychological experiments and theories. He notes that implications of this theory for meaning and truth with specific attention to metaphor as a speech act, the iconic meaning of metaphor, and the development of a four-valued system of truth. Numerous examples of metaphor from poetry and science are presented and analyzed to support Mac Cormac's theory."A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor takes up three levels of explanation--metaphor as expressed in surface language, the semantics of metaphor, and metaphor as a cogitive process--and unifies these by interpreting metaphor as an evolutionary knowledge process in which metaphors mediate between minds and culture. Mac Cormac considers, and rejects, the radical theory that all use of language is metaphorical; however, this argument also recognizes that the "theory of metaphor may itself be metaphorical.The book first considers the computational metaphor often adopted by cognitive psychology as an example of metaphor requiring analysis. In contrast to three well-known philosophical theories of metaphor - the tension theory, the controversion theory, and the grammatical deviance theory - it develops a semantical anomaly theory of metaphor based on a quasi-mathematical hierarchy of words. In developing the theory, Mac Cormac makes much-needed connections between theories of metaphor and more orthodox analytic philosophy of meaning, including discussions of speech acts and the logic of fuzzy sets. This semantical theory of explanation is then shown to be compatible with contemporary psychologicaltheories of memory.Earl R. MacCormac is Charles A. Dana Professor of Philosophy and Chairman of the Department of Philosophy, Davidson College. A Bradford Book.

Many metaphors go beyond pionting to the existing similarities between two objects -- they create the similarities. Such metaphors, which have been relegated to the back seat in most of the cognitive science research, are the focus of attention in this study, which addresses the creation of similarity within an elaborately laid out interactive framework of cognition. Starting from the constructivist views of Nelson Goodman and Jean Piaget, this framework resolves an apparent paradox in interactionism: how can reality not have a mind-independent ontology and structure, but still manage to constrain the possible worlds a cognitive agent can create in it? A comprehensive theory of metaphor is proposed in this framework that explains how metaphors can create similarities, and why such metaphors are an invaluable asset to cognition. The framework is then applied to related issues of analogical reasoning, induction, and computational modeling of creative metaphors.

This book brings together leading metaphor researchers from a number of disciplines to unite the field of metaphor theory.

Many metaphors go beyond pionting to the existing similarities between two objects -- they create the similarities. Such metaphors, which have been relegated to the back seat in most of the cognitive science research, are the focus of attention in this study, which addresses the creation of similarity within an elaborately laid out interactive framework of cognition. Starting from the constructivist views of Nelson Goodman and Jean Piaget, this framework resolves an apparent paradox in interactionism: how can reality not have a mind-independent ontology and structure, but still manage to constrain the possible worlds a cognitive agent can create in it? A comprehensive theory of metaphor is proposed in this framework that explains how metaphors can create similarities, and why such metaphors are an invaluable asset to cognition. The framework is then applied to related issues of analogical reasoning, induction, and computational modeling of creative metaphors.

The study of metaphor is now firmly established as a central topic within cognitive science and the humanities. This book explores the critical role that conceptual metaphors play in language, thought, cultural and expressive actions. It evaluates the arguments and evidence for and against conceptual metaphors across academic disciplines.

The papers in this volume discuss pivotal issues pertaining to the linguistic approaches to metaphors from theoretical and applied points of view. Some contributions utilize the framework of cognitive linguists to validate their descriptive models, showing that the figurative language is present in the everyday lives of people. Some present the opinion that metaphors may be useful for educational purposes explaining the nature of directly inapproachable objects. There are, however, studies that provide evidence for the reverse processes where the formation of conceptual metaphors reflects personal experiences stipulated by education. Metaphors also used to be studied as persuasive tools which take part in the creative molding of political identities. Furthermore, there are experimental studies in which the figurative thought model is revised by doubting whether conceptual metaphors indeed become automatically activated in the course of processing figurative language, or which suggest that the frequency count of literal senses of dictionary words may serve as a guide for labeling the source domains of conceptual metaphors in the processing of linguistic expression.

Sex -- Commitment -- Conflict -- Loneliness and Rejection Hurt-Literally? -- Relationships as a Source -- Notes -- Chapter 8: Intergroup Relations -- Metaphors of Group Membership -- Metaphors of Intergroup Emotions -- Up/Down -- Light/Dark -- Warm/Cold -- Clean/Dirty -- Human/Not Human -- Metaphors of Society: What Is and What Could Be -- Notes -- Chapter 9: Political and Health Discourse -- Political Discourse -- Health Discourse -- What to Do? -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Index