Introduction to Cognitive Science

Lakoff & Johnson's Theory of Metaphor

Last Update: 22 August 2008

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Lakoff References:

Lakoff, George, & Johnson, Mark (1980), "Conceptual Metaphor in Everyday Language", Journal of Philosophy 77(8): 453-486.
Lakoff, George, & Johnson, Mark (1980), Metaphors We Live By (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
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Lakoff, George (1987), Women, Fire And Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About The Mind (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
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Lakoff, George (1991), "Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf".
Lakoff, George (2001), "As Advertised: A Review of The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences", Artificial Intelligence 130(2): 195-209.
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Lakoff, George (2001), "Metaphors of Terror"
Goldstein, Evan R. (2008), "Who Framed George Lakoff?", Chronicle of Higher Education 54(49) (August 15): B6-B9.

Other References:

Squires, Roger (1970), "On One's Mind", Philosophical Quarterly 20(81) (October): 347-356.
- An interesting and humorous discussion of various metaphors for the mind.

ARGUMENT IS WAR:

Your claims are indefensible.
He attacked every weak point in my argument.
His criticisms were right on target.
I demolished his argument.
I've never won an argument with him.
You disagree? OK, shoot!.
If you use that strategy, he'll wipe you out.
He shot down all my arguments.

TIME IS MONEY:

You're wasting my time.
This gadget will save you hours.
How do you spend your time these days?
That flat tire cost me an hour.
I've invested a lot of time in her.
You need to budget your time.
Is that worth your while?
You don't use your time profitably.

HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN:

I'm feeling up.
That boosted my spirits.
My spirits rose.
You're in high spirits.
Thinking about her always gives me a lift.
I'm feeling down.
I'm depressed.
I fell into a depression.
He's really low these days.
My spirits sank.

Some limitations of metaphors and analogies:

Business is food?

Many things are exercise?

Baseball and animals:

Personalities are sports?

People are animals?