The cognitive science of metaphor from philosophy to neuropsychology

In this paper I review some of the theoretical issues surrounding metaphor, and trace them through the context of the cognitive neuroscience debate. Metaphor, like all figurative language, has been usually explained as a secondary linguistic process which takes place as a function taking place on literal language. However this explanation does not fit well with some of the recent work on right hemisphere processing of language or recent cognitive studies, both of which suggest that the figurative and literal language are processed simultaneously and share much structure. In seeking ways to operationalize the Lakoff and Johnson view of metaphor as a constitutive cognitive phenomenon, I begin to spell out what kinds of theoretical predictions the Lakoff-Johnson model would make on the neurophysiological levels cognitive investigation. I conclude by offering some rudimentary thoughts on possible proposals for further investigation using these methods.

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