ARGUMENTATION (continued)

CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS (new lecture)

Practical reasoning. Deliberation. Argument reconstruction
(Fairclough & Fairclough, 2012)
Transpersonal psychology: needs as values in practical reasoning
(Maslow, A.H., 1954/1970)
 COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR THEORY
AN ARGUMENT IS WAR
 Your claims are indefensible.
 He attacked every weak point in my
argument.
 His criticisms were right on target.
 I demolished his argument.
 I’ve never won an argument with him.
 You disagree? Okay, shoot!
 If you use that strategy, he’ll wipe you
out.
 He shot down all of my arguments.
IDEAS ARE FOOD
 All this paper has in it are raw facts, half-baked
ideas, and warmed-over theories.
 There are too many facts for me to digest them
all.
 I just can’t swallow that claim.
 Let me stew over that for a while.
 That’s food for thought.
 She devoured the bok.
 Let’s let that idea simmer on the back burner
for a while.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE METAPHOR (Goatly, 1997: 698, e-book)
 1. Ideational function (defined as ‘understanding the environment’) covers the
metaphor’s functions to fill lexical gaps, to explain and to set up a model
(especially in science and myth), to reconceptualize our experience;
 2. Interpersonal function (‘acting on others in the environment’) highlights the
metaphor’s role as a persuasive device, its ideological function ‘to construct
reality as a means of maintaining or challenging power relations in society’ (1997:
707), to express or disguise emotions, to distort reality or, on the contrary, to
produce common Grounds so that the interlocutors should share their
experiences. Metaphorical puns, riddles and jokes also exhibit the interpersonal
function as they offer the reader/hearer the available Vehicle-terms so that he
discern the Topic by activating the most appropriate schemata;
 3. Textual function (providing evidence as regards relevance between what is said
and what has been included in the co-text/context) points to the metaphor’s role
as a cohesive device that contributes to the structure of the text as a whole.
METAPHORICAL PATTERNS (Goatly, 1997: 251-255)
 - General reifying – a process by which abstract entities can be seen as maneuverable
(‘handle a problem’), either created (‘construct a theory’) or destroyed (‘dissipate
energy’), as concrete items having various shapes (‘shred of evidence’), located in
space and interacting with the other entities (‘gather strength’), perceived visually
(‘seek peace’);
 - Specific reifying – physical qualities integrated in metaphorical expressions just to
exhibit their abstract values. The most common example pertains to Lakoff’s
Orientational metaphors, such as ‘power is UP’ or ‘basic/elementary is DOWN’ [3, 282];
 - Animizing and personifying metaphors – abstract entities evince [+ ANIMATE], [+
HUMAN] features as in ‘the reign of terror’ or ‘economic growth’ [3, 285-286];
 - Materializing abstract process – mental processes, knowledge, understanding are made
visible to certain degrees (‘to outline a situation’, ‘brilliant idea’, etc.);
 - Process = Process – transfer metaphors in which both the Topic and the Vehicle
represent perceptual or material processes, for example COMPETITION IS WAR or SOUND
IS SIGHT/ SOUND IS LIQUID;
 - Object/Substance = Object/Substance – transfer metaphors in which Topics and
Vehicles are first-order entities, instances of object personification (MONEY IS LIQUID;
COUNTRY = HUMAN BODY) or human depersonification (HUMANS ARE BUILDINGS, HUMAN
= CLOTH)
THE CRISIS IS A DISEASE

 The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression…

 And the – the worst symptom on this disease is what my friend, Tom Coburn, calls
earmarking as a gateway drug, because it’s a gateway.
 … a healthy economy with low taxes without raising anyone’s taxes is probably the
best recipe for eventually having our economy recover
 Americans are hurting right now.
 This problem has become so severe.
 It could end up having an adverse effect on everybody.
 I want to use a scalpel so that people who need help are getting help…
Political Thinking in the US: the Moral Accounting metaphor
Nurturant Parent Morality
(Democrat progressive thinking)
 Both parents are equally responsible for
raising the children, living as happily as
possible together
 They raise their children to be nurturers
of others
 If you empathize with your child, you will
provide protection to the innocent and
the helpless
 The child is treated fairly
 Trust, honesty and open, two-way
communication
 Raising the child to be fulfilled and happy
in life
Strict Father Morality (Republican
conservative thinking)
 Father supports and protects the family
 Strict rules are set for the children to
obey
 Love and nurturance are vital parts of
family life, but they should never
outweigh father’s authority
 Children are taught self-discipline, self-
reliance
 Children are punished unless they obey
the rules
 The mature children have to sink or
swim by themselves