Metaphors We Live By
Metaphors structure ordinary reasoning and action, not merely decorative language.
Conceptual metaphors connect one domain of experience with another.
If disagreement is pictured as combat, compromise can sound like defeat. Lakoff and Johnson show how an ordinary metaphor can guide expectations before we consciously choose a response.
Ordinary expressions reveal patterns extending beyond individual figures of speech.
Understanding argument as conflict shapes expectations about disagreement.
Spatial and bodily experience contribute to abstract concepts.
A metaphor highlights some relationships while hiding others.
Changing the frame does not guarantee agreement. It can reveal options the old language hid, such as treating a conversation as shared investigation rather than a contest someone must win.
Alternative metaphors can therefore change what actions seem natural.
Concepts need not have perfectly fixed boundaries to remain usable.
Meaning develops through embodied and cultural activity.
The authors challenge accounts of completely detached objective representation.
The conclusion makes examining conceptual frames part of examining a belief.
The conclusion makes examining conceptual frames part of examining a belief.
If argument is pictured as combat, what possibilities disappear before anyone has consciously chosen how to disagree?