Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Metaphors: Figures of the Mind

  • Book
  • © 1997

Overview

Authors:
  1. Zdravko Radman

    1. Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb, Croatia
      Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Konstanz, Germany

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Library of Rhetorics (LIRH, volume 4)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. On Dead Literalness and Live Metaphorics

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Limits of Literalness

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 3-17

    3. The Polysemic Chain of Meaning

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 19-30

    4. Difficulties With Diagnosing the Death of a Metaphor

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 31-39

  4. On the Body and the Mind

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 87-87
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Toward a Metaphor-Body Problem

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 89-101

    3. Artificial Intelligence and the Natural Body

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 103-113

  5. On Metaphorizing and World-Making

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Key-Metaphors: A Case of Cross-Contextual Cognition

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 117-132

    3. Of Mind, Metaphysics and Other Matters

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 133-150

    4. How to Make Worlds With Metaphors

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 151-156

    5. Metaphorical Projections of Possible Worlds

      • Zdravko Radman
      Pages 157-166

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 167-187
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book deals with various aspects of metaphorics and yet it is not only, or perhaps not even primarily, about metaphor itself. Rather it is concerned with the argument from metaphor. In other words, it is about what I think we can learn from metaphor and the possible consequences of this lesson for a more adequate understanding, for instance, of our mental processes, the possibilities and limitations of our reasoning, the strictures of propositionality, the cognitive effect of fictional projections and so on. In this sense it is not, strictly speaking, a contribution to metaphorology; instead, it is an attempt to define the place of metaphor in the world of overall human intellectual activity, exemplary thematized here in the span that ranges from problems relating to the articulation of meanings up to general issues of creativity. Most of the aspects discussed, therefore, are examined not so much for the sake of gaining some new knowledge about metaphor (work conducted in the »science of metaphor« is presently so huge that an extra attempt to spell out another theory of metaphor may have an infiatory effect); the basic strategy of this book is to view metaphor within the complex of language usage and language competence, in human thought and action, and, finally, to see in what philosophically relevant way it improves our knowledge of ourselves. Certainly, by adopting this basic strategy we also simultaneously increase our knowledge of metaphors, of their functions and importance.

Reviews

`Dr. Radman has presented in Metaphors: Figures of the Mind a clear, excellent account of how metaphor serves as a necessary cognitive key for all human intellectual activity. Radman properly embodies the mind exploring not only metaphorical accounts of mind, but also the metaphorizing, cognitive function of mind. He further examines the metaphorical claims of artificial intelligence and the use of Stephen Pepper's `root metaphors' or `key metaphors' as Radman calls them, to create worldviews. Radman draws on both contemporary accounts of metaphor and classical works. His text is rich with examples drawn from English and German writers. I highly recommend Radman's work for both readers familiar with the various controversies about metaphor and new readers unacquainted with this topic.'
Earl R. MacCormac, Consulting Professor of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center

`Most discussions of metaphor tacitly assume that literal meaning is direct, precise, and unproblematic, while metaphorical meaning is indirect, vague, and fraught with semantic and epistemological difficulties. Zdravko Radman's Metaphors: Figures of the Mind undercuts this complacent assumption. It shows that literal meaning is an achievement that results from a series of explorations, elaborations, projections and refinements, many of them metaphorical.'
Catherine Z. Elgin, Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University

`It is hardly an exaggeration to view the cognitive approach to metaphor as the emergence of a new paradigm: not only because the questions asked by the various scholars are now couched in radically different terms. For this reason, serious and well-informed syntheses are welcome, if one is to burrow one's way through the mountain of research and theories produced by `metaphormania' of the nineteen eighties. In Metaphors: Figures of the Mind, Radman offers such a status quaestionis, and in addition traces paths of thought, investigation and application which take the reader beyond the bounds of mainstream metaphorology.'
Jean-Pierre van Noppen, Professor of English Linguistics, Université Libre de Bruxelles

Authors and Affiliations

  • Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb, Croatia

    Zdravko Radman

  • Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Konstanz, Germany

    Zdravko Radman

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Metaphors: Figures of the Mind

  • Authors: Zdravko Radman

  • Series Title: Library of Rhetorics

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2254-4

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1997

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-4356-1Published: 31 December 1996

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-4780-9Published: 05 December 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-017-2254-4Published: 09 March 2013

  • Series ISSN: 0929-6298

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 188

  • Topics: Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation