A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor
A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor (Bradford Books) Earl R. Mac Cormac,
Publisher: The MIT Press
ISBN: 0262631245
DDC: 401.9
Edition: Paperback; 1989-05-23
Summary:
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 psychological theories of memory.
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