An Analysis of Metaphor

Abstract

<p>The aim of this thesis is to develop an analysis of metaphor which is consistent with the claim that the meaning of many metaphors cannot be expressed in any other form of words. In order to confirm this claim the analysis offered treats metaphor as a whole sentence taken within a context, not as a particular way of using a word or words. In CHAPTER's ONE, TWO, and THREE, I discuss the nature of the elements of a metaphor, and their relation to each other, I show that the predicate element of a metaphor is itself complex. The relation between predicate and subject in a metaphor is shown to depend upon the manner in which we think metaphorically. An analysis of metaphorical meaning must characterize metaphorical thought, and we attempt this with the help of Wittgenstein's notion of seeing-as. CHAPTER FOUR supplements our analysis by raising the question "How is the meaning of metaphor affected by the beliefs and belief systems of the language user?" A discussion of this question helps us to distinguish metaphor from various other forms of language and to show that the meaning of some metaphors is, in an important sense, relative to the beliefs we hold.</p>