The Structure of Metaphor: The Way the Language of Metaphor Works

This volume provides a philosophical introduction to and analysis of the study of metaphor. By proceeding from the concrete analysis of complex metaphors, White is able to identify a range of features which are incompatible with standard accounts of the way words function in metaphor. In so doing, White sets out a powerful new conception of metaphor as a ′linguistic hybrid′. In this way, the use of metaphor makes possible an act of communication which goes essentially beyond the standard resources of the language.
The volume includes discussion of the key accounts of metaphor, and will be essential reading to all those working in philosophy of language, philosophical logic, metaphysics, and literary criticism.

Acknowledgements. List of Abbreviations. Introduction. Part I: Metaphors as Linguistic Hybrids: 1. The Two Vocabularies of a Metaphor. 2. Bifurcation. 3. Ambiguity of Construal. 4. Metaphors as Sentences. 5. Underdetermination. 6. A Theory of Metaphor. 7. The Phenomena of Metaphor 1: Some Examples of Metaphor. 8. The Phenomena of Metaphor 2: Some Ways of Complicating the Metaphoric Structure. Part II: Some Conclusions: 9. Four Types of Theory of Metaphor. 10. The Impossibility of Metaphorical Sciences. 11. The Ordinary Meaning of the Sentences. Appendix: Metaphorical Prediction. Notes. Bibliography. Index.