Metaphors are embodied otherwise they would not be metaphors
Linguistics Vanguard June 27, 2022 DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2019-0083 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThis paper introduces the Embodied Extended Mind Theory (EEMT), which argues that metaphors reflect a connection between perception, memory, and consciousness, drawing on Active Inference (AIF) as a framework for understanding intelligent agency. The author contends that for a metaphor to be truly embodied, it must involve modality-specific simulations, not just activity in modality-specific brain areas. EEMT proposes that language carries traces of bodily acquired information reflecting biological processes of energy exchange and conservation. Embodied metaphors arise from the alignment of multiple independent systems during event reconstruction, using stored perceptual maps to manipulate concepts as part of complex event partitioning.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Linguistics |
| Key finding | Argues that what makes a metaphor embodied is not merely the relation between source and target domains in ad hoc brain regions, but the alignment of multiple independent systems during the reconstruction of events. |
Abstract
Abstract In an interesting paper, Casasanto, Daniel & Tom Gijssels. 2015. What makes a metaphor an embodied metaphor? Linguistics Vanguard 1(1). 327–337 introduce a skeptical view of recent studies into the embodied character of metaphorical source domains. According to the authors, there cannot be conclusive evidence on the matter thus far, since, for a metaphor to be embodied, specific simulations must be modality-specific and not simply restricted to modality-specific activity brain areas. In line with this, I argue that metaphors reflect a connection between perception, memory, and consciousness (embodied extended mind). The Embodied Extended Mind Theory (EEMT) introduced in this paper is indebted to Active Inference (AIF), a process theory for the comprehension of intelligent agency. EEMT defends the idea that language bears traces of nonlinguistic, bodily acquired information that reflects biological processes of energy exchange and conservation. Therefore, it is assumed that what makes a metaphor embodied is not only the relation between a source domain and a target domain in ad hoc regions in the brain, but the alignment of multiple independent systems during the (re)construction of events. Central to this is the idea that humans use stored perceptual maps, the combination of which permits us to manipulate concepts as part of complex event partitioning.