基本説明
New in paperback. Hardcover was published in 1987.
Full Description
This book provides a comprehensive philosophical theory explicating the cognitive contribution of metaphor. Metaphor effects a transference of meaning, not between two terms, but between two structured domains of content, or 'semantic fields'. Semantic fields, construed as necessary to a theory of word-meaning, provide the contrastive and affinitive relations that govern a term's literal use. In a metaphoric use, these relations are projected into a second domain which is thereby reordered with significant cognitive effects.
The book is a detailed revision and refinement of 'the semantic theory of metaphor'. Taking into account pragmatic considerations and recent linguistic and psychological studies, the author forges a new understanding of the relation between metaphoric and literal meaning. She amply illustrates her thesis with sensitive and systematic analyses of metaphors found in literature, philosophy, science, and everyday language.
Contents
Introduction; Towards a perspectival theory; The identification of metaphor; An interlude concerning context: A relational theory of meaning; Intepreting metaphor; Some alternative approaches: A critique; Semantic field theory; Semantic fields and the structure of metaphor; concluding remarks: Reference and truth in metaphor; Bibliography; Index
