Object metaphors of Mind - Mind is a Book

September 24th, 2006 Fred McVittie

Within the range of metaphors for mind there are a significant number which are sourced from conrete experiences with objects. (As noted elsewhere, the other key metaphor groups are substances and spaces.) Of the object metaphors, one which a lengthy history and considerable contemporary application and significance is the MIND IS A BOOK metaphor. This usage is found in the writings of Thomas Aquinas and, also in the modern theoretical concept of the ‘Narrative Self’. The power of the book metaphor is that it allows for the generation of numerous entailments which organise the complex, and in many ways inconceivable, abstraction that we refer to as mind. These entailments include such elements as narrative, character, author, ending, closure, etc.

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