The Cognitive Status of Metaphors
Abstract
The report is the English-language summary of a thesis in Hebrew that provides an explication, in the Carnapian sense, of the concept of metaphor by means of relatively new logical and linguistic methods. The treatment refers exclusively to the cognitive aspects of metaphor; esthetic aspects are mentioned only occasionally and indirectly. The development includes consideration of what Carnap calls clarification of the explicandum and an introduction of the explicandum in a narrow and precise systematic framework. A theoretic framework is developed for treatment of the concept of metaphor, and a semantic meta-language for natural languages is outlined, that is capable of relating to phenomena such as metaphors. The basic assumption is that cognitive meaning relations are, essentially, logical relations and, in particular, inductive relations in the sense of logical probabilities. The aim is to identify the explicata of the concept of meaning (or of the concept of meaning constituents) with the concept of positive initial relevance according to Carnap's use of the latter notion. No need is seen for combination rules along lines proposed by Katz and Fodor or Weinreich, since the process of providing an interpretation is regarded as being essentially a process of erasing some meaning constituents from the meaning sequences of isolated terms in the light of evidence about the linguistic environments in which terms occur.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0707563
Entities
People
- Avishai Margalith
Organizations
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem