The Logic of Metaphor

The Logic of Metaphor PDF

Author: Eric Steinhart

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9401596549

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1. Metaphors and Logic Metaphors are among the most vigorous offspring of the creative mind; but their vitality springs from the fact that they are logical organisms in the ecology of l- guage. I aim to use logical techniques to analyze the meanings of metaphors. My goal here is to show how contemporary formal semantics can be extended to handle metaphorical utterances. What distinguishes this work is that it focuses intensely on the logical aspects of metaphors. I stress the role of logic in the generation and int- pretation of metaphors. While I don't presuppose any formal training in logic, some familiarity with philosophical logic (the propositional calculus and the predicate c- culus) is helpful. Since my theory makes great use of the notion of structure, I refer to it as the structural theory of m etaphor (STM). STM is a semant ic theory of m etaphor : if STM is correct, then metaphors are cognitively meaningful and are n- trivially logically linked with truth. I aim to extend possible worlds semantics to handle metaphors. I'll argue that some sentences in natural languages like English have multiple meanings: "Juliet is the sun" has (at least) two meanings: the literal meaning "(Juliet is the sunkIT" and the metaphorical meaning "(Juliet is the sun)MET". Each meaning is a function from (possible) worlds to truth-values. I deny that these functions are identical; I deny that the metaphorical function is necessarily false or necessarily true.

Poetic Logic

Poetic Logic PDF

Author: Marcel Danesi

Publisher: Madison, WI : Atwood Pub.

Published: 2004-01-01

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 9781891859496

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Homo sapiens is a "meaning-producing" species. The ability of our minds to create these meanings is termed poetic logic. The use of metaphor to create and communicate ideas is so commonplace and pervasive as to go unnoticed. We no longer are aware that a metaphor is truly a metaphor because it is so entrenched. These metaphors permeate our thought processes, are exemplified in our language, and are reflective of our cultures.

A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor

A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor PDF

Author: Earl R. Mac Cormac

Publisher: MIT Press (MA)

Published: 1985

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13:

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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.

Metaphor

Metaphor PDF

Author: John Briggs

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13:

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Selected poems are explicated by analyzing their uses of metaphor and metaphoric device. The first two chapters of this introductory textbook are devoted to an explanation of what the authors call metaphoric eye. metaphoric models. The two concluding chapters focus on advanced poetry and then address the question of what makes a poem good or bad. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Metaphor

Metaphor PDF

Author: Eva Feder Kittay

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 9780198242468

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The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive philosophical theory which explains the cognitive contribution of metaphor. The argument is illustrated with analysis of metaphors from literature, philosophy, science, and everyday language.

Aspects of Metaphor

Aspects of Metaphor PDF

Author: Jaakko Hintikka

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-03-09

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9401583153

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Metaphor is one of the most frequently evoked but at the same time most poorly understood concepts in philosophy and literary theory. In recent years, several interesting approaches to metaphor have been presented or outlined. In this volume, authors of some of the most important new approaches re-present their views or illustrate them by means of applications, thus allowing the reader to survey some of the prominent ongoing developments in this field. These authors include Robert Fogelin, Susan Haack, Jaakko Hintikka (with Gabriel Sandu), Bipin Indurkhya and Eva Kittay (with Eric Steinhart). Their stance is in the main constructive rather than critical; but frequent comparisons of different views further facilitate the reader's overview. In the other contributions, metaphor is related to the problems of visual representation (Noël Carroll), to the open class test (Avishai Margalit and Naomi Goldblum) as well as to Wittgenstein's idea of 'a way of life' (E.M. Zemach).

Metaphors We Live By

Metaphors We Live By PDF

Author: George Lakoff

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2008-12-19

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0226470997

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The now-classic Metaphors We Live By changed our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are "metaphors we live by"—metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them. In this updated edition of Lakoff and Johnson's influential book, the authors supply an afterword surveying how their theory of metaphor has developed within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how we think and how we express our thoughts in language.

The Method of Metaphor

The Method of Metaphor PDF

Author: Stanley Raffel

Publisher: Intellect (UK)

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781783200146

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Proposes that the interminable nature of many controversies suggests there is a problem with the syllogism, a main tool of logic. Using examples from both literary material and current debates, argues that metaphors are not just aesthetic tools but can be used to judge phenomena.

A Yog=ac=ara Buddhist Theory of Metaphor

A Yog=ac=ara Buddhist Theory of Metaphor PDF

Author: Roy Tzohar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-04-09

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 019066441X

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Buddhist philosophy is fundamentally ambivalent toward language. Language is paradoxically seen as both obstructive and necessary for liberation. In this book, Roy Tzohar delves into the ingenious response to this tension from the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism: that all language-use is metaphorical. Exploring the profound implications of this claim, Tzohar makes the case for viewing the Yogacara account as a full-fledged theory of meaning, one that is not merely linguistic, but also applicable both in the world as well as in texts. Despite the overwhelming visibility of figurative language in Buddhist philosophical texts, this is the first sustained and systematic attempt to present an indigenous Buddhist theory of metaphor. By grounding the Yogacara pan-metaphorical claim in a broader intellectual context, of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, the book uncovers an intense philosophical conversation about metaphor and language that reaches across sectarian lines. Tzohar's analysis radically reframes the Yogacara controversy with the Madhyamaka school of philosophy, sheds light on the Yogacara application of particular metaphors, and explicates the school's unique understanding of experience.