Metaphors of Mind

September 18th, 2006 Fred McVittie

The use of metaphor to describe and conceptualise mind is inevitable because of its inherently abstract nature. As Guy Claxton puts it (referring specifically to the unconscious), ‘you can’t put it up against the wall and photograph it.” This use of metaphor in cognition and in natural language is not only a feature of ‘commonsense’ descriptions of the mind (Barnden), but also structures academic and scientific thought on this subject. As has been noted by Barnden, Pasanek, Lakoff, and others, there are a large number of metaphors for mind and mental processes including, animals, architecture, garden features, war, weather, and writing. (Pasanek); for the purposes of this writing, this list will be collated into three key groups; objects, substances, and spatial metaphors. It can be demonstrated that all of the metaphors listed can be allocated to one or more of these three groups, or derived from combinations of the groups.

Posted in Barnden, J. A., S. O’Nuallain, et al, Claxton, Guy, Lakoff, George, Metaphor, Object, Panasek, Brad, Space, Substance | No Comments »