Posted by
Jochen Fromm-4 on
May 06, 2010; 8:40pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/The-coat-hook-of-the-mind-tp5012713p5016370.html
Metaphors are essential and important,
as Lakoff and Johnson argued so convincingly.
Many of our discussions here are philosophical,
and the main tool of Philosophy is language.
The earliest types of Philosophy takes the
form of a dialog or discourse (Plato or
Aristotles). Since then, Philosophy has used
logic and linguistic examination. Using linguistic
tools, one can find metaphors and analogies or
categories and classifications. Metaphors belongs
to the best things we can find in Philosophy.
Metaphors lead to meaning and understanding.
Without metaphors, it is impossible to
achieve an understanding of abstract items.
They give meaning to abstract things.
Understanding, meaning and semantics require
a connection or relationship between two
worlds. Meaning arises from a *mapping*
between two worlds..
..from connections between physical ojects
and abstract symbols
..from metaphors and analogies, which map
abstract domains to concrete domains
..from dictionaries which map one language
to another
Equations and metaphors are similar, they
relate two different terms, things, and sides.
Metaphors let us express one thing in terms of another.
In this sense, metaphors are the "calculus of the mind".
A function is at it's core a mapping from one
thing to another.
An equation means to find a mapping from one
thing to another, too.
A law (of nature) is at it's core a mapping
from one world to another.
Here we come back to Russ' question why
theorems and laws of nature exist: according
to this definition, one would say because there
are many worlds which can be mapped to each
other in a meaningful way.
-J.
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Smith
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 5:30 PM
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] The coat hook of the mind
I'm curious about how this group comes down on the topic of the utility of
metaphor in general. I find that most people are fairly strongly polarized
on the topic and most have not given more than casual thought to it.
For myself, Lakoff and Johnson captured me 30 years ago with "Metaphors we
Live By" but I regularly encounter strong opposition to the idea that
metaphor is central to our understanding and communication.
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