Summary
Metaphors are not simply linguistic flourishes that we use to artfully describe the world around us. They are conceptual tools that help us interpret and even construct the meanings of our experiences and interactions.
Notes
We use metaphors to interpret and understand the world around us
- Metaphors structure our interpretation of the world
- Metaphors create coherent systems of meaning
- Structural metaphors reveal and conceal different aspects of experience
- Orientational metaphors organize concepts relationally
- Metonymy facilitates understanding by focusing our attention
- Novel metaphors create novel ways of thinking
Experientialism suggests we understand the world through our interactions with it
- Objectivism assumes a concrete, knowable world
- Subjectivism suggests that our senses and emotions are our best guides to truth
- Experientialism suggests that truth is relative to our interactions with the world
Reference
Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press, 2008.
