Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

This section has only presented basic elements of the cognitive theory of metaphor
founded by Lakoff and Johson. The theory has been elaborated and differentiated
during two decades, and in their latest book together, Philosophy in the Flesh (1999),
Lakoff and Johnson have made radical philosophical conclusions on ontology and
epistemology based on their theory of cognition 9 .
Summary
Human beings use metaphors to think about and give meaning to various aspects of
life, and metaphors are a basic function of language and cognition. In their book
Metaphors We Live By Lakoff & Johnson (1980) demonstrated how metaphors are not
merely a decorative function of language, but rather a necessary means of human
understanding, closely related to the body and the development of body schemata.
The French hermeneutic philosopher Paul Ricoeur has studied, how metaphor creates
tension within discourse and in this way contributes to the development of cognitive
strategies. An outline of his theory is presented in the next section.
3.2.2 Ricoeur’s hermeneutic theory
According to Ricoeur mental life expresses itself through the language of symbols and
metaphors. Metaphoric statements are not, as Freud thought, mere expressions of
drive conflicts, but also attempts to release or solve conflicts by indicating
possibilities for a better life. Understanding a person is not limited to explaining his or
her behaviour from ex- or intrinsic conflicts; we also understand through our wish to
come to terms with the conflicts (Kemp 1995, p.17). Ricoeur comes to metaphor and
narrative “from a concern with the phenomenon of double or hidden meaning, which
he believes figure in the most important understanding of human existence. “
(Polkinghorne 1988, p. 66) Hidden meaning is found in dreams, associations,
metaphors and symbols, and indirect language belongs to the field of hermeneutic
inquiry.
The ‘Living’ Metaphor is not just a metaphoric re-writing (or ‘second draft’),
9 Even though J. Stern (2000) agrees with many of Lakoff et al.'s empirical findings, especially about
metaphor-networks, he is rather critical of their radical philosophical assumptions.
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