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Synopsis
In this reexamination of the 2000-year legacy of philosophy in light of the accomplishments of cognitive science--namely, that the mind is embodied and that abstract thought is metaphorical--Lakoff and Johnson toss up some startling insights on thinkers such as Kant and Descartes.
| Size | | Height: | 9.0 in | | Width: | 7.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 38.4 oz |
Industry Reviews
Written by distinguished Berkeley linguist Lakoff and his coauthor on METAPHORS WE LIVE BY (1983), this book explores three propositions claimed as "major findings" of cognitive science: "The mind is inherently embodied. Thought is mostly unconscious. Abstract concepts are largely metaphorical." Cognitive science, with its basic materialist bent, applies computer-based concepts, a little neurophysiology, and linguistic theory to human mental life. It will, the authors say, drastically change philosophy. They seem to think that we are really run by our deep wiring and the cultural concepts that become embodied metaphors. While seeking clarity by drawing out the implications of their basic notions, they add new puzzles. What does it mean to say "reason is not disembodied"? Read this book to see how (some?) cognitive scientists think. But read it with Charles P. Siewert's recent The Significance of Consciousness (Princeton Univ., 1998) for the traditional notions of consciousness. Readers will find there's still room for their own judgments. Leslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa, Canada
Hofmann
"[Lakoff and Johnson's] ambition is massive, their argument important, their success intermittent....[T]he authors eventually dissect ideas behind such figures as Kant, Descartes, and W.V.O. Quine, arguing that under the highly rational surface of those men's philosophical texts are entwined strands of that primal genetic metaphoric material....But something odd happens in the authors' determined quest for primal metaphor. Ordinary speech and thought become more resonant, but philosophical speech and thought are diminished."
Rothstein
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