Knowledge and Language

The third volume of a three-volume work, this text argues that it is essential to consider metaphor when exploring how truth is gained in science and in everyday dealings with reality. It looks at the role of metaphor in fields ranging from poetry and art to medicine and political theory.

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Metaphor lies at the heart of the contemporary debate in aesthetics, semantics and the philosophy of science. It is generally recognized now that metaphor is not an obfuscation of the truth (as so many philosophers since Plato have argued); on the contrary, it is essential that we consider metaphor if we strive for an optimal understanding of how truth is gained both in science and in our everyday dealings with reality. Hence, metaphor is of interest not only for the literary theorists, but for all those who wish to understand science and how to grasp the structure of our social world. This volume presents 11 essays on the role of metaphor in philosophy, poetry, semiotics, art, literary criticism, economics, medical science and political theory.