Summary

"Metaphors We Live By," by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, challenges traditional views of meaning in Western philosophy and linguistics, arguing that metaphor is not merely a linguistic device but a fundamental aspect of human thought and understanding. The book critiques the dominant objectivist perspective, which assumes an objective reality knowable through literal language, and introduces an experientialist approach that emphasizes the role of human experience and embodied cognition in shaping our conceptual systems.

The authors demonstrate how metaphor pervades everyday language, structuring not only how we speak but also how we perceive, think, and act. Through numerous examples, they illustrate how metaphorical concepts like "ARGUMENT IS WAR" or "TIME IS MONEY" influence our understanding of abstract domains by mapping them onto more concrete experiences. This systematicity allows us to make inferences and reason about complex ideas, but also obscures certain aspects of those ideas, highlighting the partial nature of metaphorical structuring. The book explores various types of metaphors, including orientational, ontological, and structural metaphors, and examines how they create coherence within our conceptual systems.

Furthermore, "Metaphors We Live By" delves into the limitations of the objectivist myth, which posits that the world consists of distinct objects with inherent properties, and argues for the importance of interactional properties and experiential gestalts in understanding meaning. The book also addresses challenges to metaphorical coherence, demonstrating how apparent contradictions can often be resolved through deeper analysis of underlying conceptual structures. It contrasts the objectivist view with the myth of subjectivism, and proposes an experientialist alternative, which seeks to balance objectivity and subjectivity, and is grounded in bodily experience and cultural practices.

In the afterword, written in 2003, the authors reflect on the book's impact and the subsequent developments in metaphor theory. They discuss the persistent fallacies surrounding metaphor, such as the idea that it is merely linguistic or based on similarity, and present empirical evidence from various fields to support the conceptual nature of metaphor. The afterword also explores the neural basis of metaphorical thought, emphasizing the role of embodied cognition in shaping our understanding of abstract concepts. The book ultimately argues for a radical shift in how we understand meaning, knowledge, and truth, advocating for a more nuanced approach that acknowledges the central role of metaphor in shaping our experience and understanding of the world.