The Immersive Metaphor

Zsuzsanna KondorInstitute for Philosophical Research of the Hungarian

Academy of Sciences

Keywords in CommunicationChicago, May 20-25 2009

Beyond MetaphorPhilosophy of Communication

• Unifying conceptual and physical– The gap between the body and the mind– Conceptual metaphor theory as a bridge

over the gap

• The immersive images

• Cohesion and communication– Communication and cognitive evolution– Communications technology

• Unifying conceptual and physical– The gap between the body and the mind– Conceptual metaphor theory as a bridge

over the gap

• The immersive images

• Cohesion and communication– Communication and cognitive evolution– Communications technology

“[E]ven the best of writings are but a reminiscence of what we know, and ... only in principles of justice and goodness and nobility taught and communicated orally for the sake of instruction and graven in the soul, which is the true way of writing, is there clearness and perfection and seriousness, and ... such principles are a man's own and his legitimate offspring”. (Plato, Phaedrus 278a (transl. by Benjamin Jowett))

“The objectivist paradigm can be broken down into two parts: [m]etaphysics [and] [e]pistemology”.(Lakoff, Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, p. 159) This means that human understanding is considered an independent phenomenon without any relation to its circumstances. This is possible because of some additional presuppositions, viz. that the human mind works as a machine which manipulates symbols. These symbols represent the entities discussed above, as well as the properties of the entities and their relations. Symbols are “internal representations of external reality” and gain their meaning “via correspondence to the things in the external world”.(Ibid. p. xii.) Thought is characterized by a certain atomism, i.e. thoughts are made up of simple “building blocks”. These atomistic blocks can be manipulated in accordance with general principles.

• Unifying conceptual and physical– The gap between the body and the mind– Conceptual metaphor theory as a bridge

over the gap

• The immersive images

• Cohesion and communication– Communication and cognitive evolution– Communications technology

• George Lakoff, “The contemporary theory of metaphor” in: Andrew Ortony (ed.) Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993

Chicago :The University of Chicago Press, (1987) 1990

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987 (1990)

Mark Johnson – image schemas

• Unifying conceptual and physical– The gap between the body and the mind– Conceptual metaphor theory as a bridge

over the gap

• The immersive images

• Cohesion and communication– Communication and cognitive evolution– Communications technology

Making a Paper Box• Step 1 On one sheet of paper, measure 2

inches from each corner and mark this spot.

• Step 2 Fold each edge inward along your 2-inch markings and crease firmly. You may want to draw a line connecting each marking to show the entire length of the crease you will be making.

• Step 3 Fold each corner inward, making a triangle. Each triangle should line up perfectly with the side of the box. However, if it isn't perfect, the box will still turn out fine.

• Step 4 Tape each triangle down along the inside of the box. For a more stable shape, you may also want to fold a piece of tape over the edge, securing the top of the triangle as well.

• Step 5 Repeat Steps 1 through 4 with the second piece of paper, only this time measure 2 1/4 inches from each edge to make a slightly smaller shape. This will fit neatly inside the first box, creating a bottom and a lid.

Making a Paper Box

• Step 1 On one sheet of paper, measure 2 inches from each corner and mark this spot.

• Step 2 Fold each edge inward along your 2-inch markings and crease firmly. You may want to draw a line connecting each marking to show the entire length of the crease you will be making.

• Step 3 Fold each corner inward, making a triangle. Each triangle should line up perfectly with the side of the box. However, if it isn't perfect, the box will still turn out fine.

• Step 4 Tape each triangle down along the inside of the box. For a more stable shape, you may also want to fold a piece of tape over the edge, securing the top of the triangle as well.

• Step 5 Repeat Steps 1 through 4 with the second piece of paper, only this time measure 2 1/4 inches from each edge to make a slightly smaller shape. This will fit neatly inside the first box, creating a bottom and a lid.

The Fortune Teller, probably 1630s by Georges de La Tour (French, 1593 1652)�

Pierre Jacob and Marc Jeannerod, Ways of seeing: The Scope and Limits of Visual Cognition, Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press (2003) 2004

illusions that are obvious in perception are not visible in action: grip is appropriate for

physical, not perceived size

J. Kevin O'Regan

Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University

Press, 1953

Compare with Ivins’ idea

”It is made up of discrete entities with discrete logical combinations of atomic properties and relations holding among those entities. Some properties are essential; others are accidental. Properties define categories, and categories defined by essential properties correspond to the kinds of things that there are. And the existence of classical categories provides logical relations that hold objectively in the world.”(Lakoff, Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, p. xiv.)

• Unifying conceptual and physical– The gap between the body and the mind– Conceptual metaphor theory as a bridge

over the gap

• The immersive images

• Cohesion and communication– Communication and cognitive evolution– Communications technology

• As mean group size rises so does neocortex ratio

Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1993

• Unifying conceptual and physical– The gap between the body and the mind– Conceptual metaphor theory as a bridge

over the gap

• The immersive images

• Cohesion and communication– Communication and cognitive evolution– Communications technology

Communications technology {gestures;language /cave paintings; writing; book printing; electronic media; mobile technology}

Cognitive evolution {episodic memory; mimesis; language; external symbolic storage system}

Group size{from small groups to society}

Violets. Woodcut from the Great

Herbal, 1525, London

Violets. Woodcut

from Brunfel’s

Herbarum viva

eicones,

Strassburg,

1530

Photo of a Viola sororia (Common Blue Violet)

A good example: botany

Chlorophyll BiosynthesisLeaves in the Sun

Thanks for your attention

kondor@webmail.phil-inst.hu