Metaphor in philosophy of language 1
Abstract: Metaphor is an important topic in the field of philosophy.
Most theorists believe that metaphor is a phenomenon that reveals the similarity between things or situations in some way.
However, there are still different views and explanations about metaphor.
There are mainly Davidson's metaphorical causal theory, simple simile theory, pragmatic theory and metaphorical analogy theory.
No matter what kind of theory, it has its own arguments, but it can't be refuted by other theories.
This paper compares the mainstream views of metaphor from different angles, thus deepening the understanding of metaphor mechanism.
Metaphor, as a common phenomenon in language, has always been concerned by scholars from all walks of life.
With the turn of linguistics in the 20th century, more and more foreign metaphor studies began to shift from semantics to philosophy of language.
Philosophers and cognitive linguists have found through research that metaphor is a powerful cognitive tool to recognize one thing through another.
Davidson's causal theory
Davidson opposes the meaning of metaphor and thinks that people will never misinterpret a metaphor.
Even if the interpretation of the same metaphor is different, it can only show that the listener's psychological structure is different from other listeners.
At the same time, he denies that there is a linguistic mechanism to convey metaphorical meaning.
In his view, no matter how strange, the meaning of all figurative sentences is only their literal meaning.
"The meaning of metaphor is the strictest literal interpretation of related words, and nothing else" (Davidson 1978, p30)
Example: Juliet is the sun.
According to Davidson's explanation, when Romeo said this sentence, although he didn't mean to express an absurd wrong conclusion, what he said was only the literal meaning of "Juliet is the sun".
This sentence has no metaphorical meaning and no logic.
The metaphorical effect expressed is different in psychological mechanism and has nothing to do with language mechanism.
However, Davidson's view was questioned.
First of all, it is obvious that the metaphorical meaning does not exist and the metaphorical effect is not random. Otherwise, poetry and other forms of literary works will not express their special significance, let alone shock the soul and achieve remarkable success.
Secondly, in the face of metaphorical sentences, people can not only understand them, but also express them in a more straightforward way.
Readers or listeners can infer metaphorical meaning from metaphorical sentences.
Sometimes, metaphorical sentences can let us know new empirical facts. Obviously, the acquisition of this cognitive value does not come from the literal meaning of metaphorical sentences.
Otherwise, according to the view of causality, it is impossible for people to misinterpret a metaphor, because no matter how they interpret it, they all come from different causal relationships under the view of causality. In this case, a metaphorical sentence cannot be understood and achieved, and it loses its meaning.
Naive simile theory
The core point of this theory is that metaphor is just the abbreviation of simile.
In other words, metaphor is derived from the corresponding simile by ellipsis, and both metaphor and simile express or lead to some unexpected comparison between their themes and something.
For example, "Juliet is the sun" is the abbreviation of "Juliet is similar to the sun".
Simile concept contains the unique "conceptual tension" of metaphor (people and the sun are different in type), which explains the understandability of metaphor.
But this theory also faces many refutations.
First of all, beardsley thinks that simile theory is very superficial in explaining the conceptual tension of metaphor.
If a metaphor is just a shorthand for simile, then it is a synonym for simile and should not sound abnormal at first.
Tension should not be just a superficial phenomenon, but a metaphor, which contains an internal and substantial tension.
Just like the sentence "Juliet is like the sun" itself is not nervous, because he did not classify Juliet and the sun.
However, the metaphorical sentence "Juliet is the sun" has a tense concept.
Secondly, Searle thinks that simile itself provides almost no information.
"Similarity is an empty predicate: any two things are similar in one way or another" (Searle 1979, p 106).
According to Searle, everything has many properties different from other things, but another thing that is considered similar to this thing cannot overlap with it in all properties.
Therefore, what kind of attribute plays a role in specific figurative sentences cannot be explained by simple simile theory.
For example, "Juliet is the sun" is considered to be in line with the simple metaphor of "Juliet is like the sun".
However, in what ways should Juliet be like the sun? Why only choose a certain attribute of the sun to describe Juliet? Naive theories provide no explanation.
Pragmatic theory
Searle put forward an explanation for metaphor.
It is believed that metaphorical discourse is a real language communication, not a pure causal relationship, and it sets up a cognitive mechanism to calculate what metaphorical meaning is worth calling.
Searle regards metaphorical meaning as the same meaning conveyed by the speaker, and explains it with Grice device in a way similar to his explanation of indirect force.
In Searle's view, explaining how metaphor works is a special case of the following general problem, that is, explaining how the speaker's meaning is separated from the meaning of a sentence or word ... When constructing metaphor theory, our task is to try to state the principle that they associate the literal sentence meaning with the [speaker's] discourse meaning of metaphor.
Searle and Davidson have a lot in common in metaphor.
They all deny that language expression has special metaphorical meaning; They all agree that metaphor can be explained by tools in mainstream language philosophy.
However, their biggest disagreement lies in rules, principles and cognitive mechanisms.
Davidson firmly denied it, while Searle was keen to put it forward.
Searle's theory has certain rationality, which overcomes Davidson's main refutation of metaphorical meaning, but also leads to other refutations.
First, if the metaphorical meaning is only the speaker's meaning, then it is determined by the speaker's intention and limited to the latter.
Secondly, Searle's own view is that the similarity supporting metaphor is usually metaphorical.
At the same time, he believes that the interpretation of metaphor must use principles or strategies different from those used to generate the speaker's meaning, and use another set of principles or strategies to determine which meanings are most likely to work in the current situation.
These two points are basically contradictory.
Thirdly, there is a metaphor phenomenon of analogy which indisputably involves meaning and meaning transformation, but Searle's point of view does not touch it.
Analogical metaphor
Metaphor, as a theory of analogy, mainly focuses on lexical meaning, that is, the meaning of words and phrases, rather than the meaning of the whole sentence.
Any word can also have many unfamiliar and completely different lexical meanings, as long as it appears in the internal environment of the sentence and changes appropriately.
Prepositions such as "in" and "on" have no constant meaning in different contexts.
abstract
In a word, there is a general prejudice against metaphor in philosophy.
Philosophers tend to think that literal words are default, and metaphorical words are occasionally distorted. However, in fact, in daily context, sentences are often used in meanings different from their literal meanings.
Almost every sentence contains figurative elements, and all kinds of theories should break through their own limitations and get better perfection.
refer to
[1], Davidson (1978) "What does metaphor mean?" In On Metaphor by S. Sachs (ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[2], Searle (1975) "indirect speech act" in P. Cole and J. L. Morgan (editor. ), Syntax and Semantics, Volume III: Speech Acts. New york: Academic Press.
[3], Searle (1979) "Metaphor." In A. Ortony (editor. ), a metaphor for thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Religious philosophy of love II
Key words: religious spirit, fraternity, all-powerful unity of God and man
Influenced by religious culture, expressing religious spirit in poetry is the same thing in Tagore's and Bing Xin's poetry creation, while all-round religious love, God's omnipotence and the unity of man and nature are the same themes in their poems.
In the history of modern literature, it is an unavoidable fact that Bing Xin was influenced by Tagore. However, this influence does not stop at the imitation of the external structure of poetry. More importantly, Bing Xin's poetry creation is more influenced and developed by Tagore in terms of religious spirit and religious ideal.
Influenced by religious culture, poetry is used to express religious spirit, which is the same point in Tagore's and Bing Xin's poetry creation, while all-round religious love is the same theme of the two poets' poetry emotions.
First, the spirit of fraternity.
Taking the form of praising God as the external structure of poetry creation and completing the emotional expression of poetry with universal love as the theme are the characteristics of Tagore's poetry creation.
"Ode" is a common poetic form of Tagore, and the title of "Gitanjali" means "dedication" in Bengali and Hindi in India.
The religious feelings in Tagore's poems are mainly the dependence on God and the reverence and affirmation of the philosophy of fraternity.
In Tagore's poems, "God" is a recurring all-round symbol, a god who transfers human instinct to him, an abstract object that reconciles the opposition between people and between people and nature, and a subject that gives human love.
At the same time, Tagore is an admirer of "religion of love". He believes that what really strengthens the power of civilization and makes mankind progress is cooperation and love, and it is mutual trust and mutual assistance.
Love thought has always been the unified religious tone in his poems, and it is also the main orientation of spiritual value in his poems. In his poems, everything in the universe is integrated by love, which embodies the ultimate significance of religious care.
The "new moon" in "New Moon Collection" symbolizes the tranquility, beauty and innocence of human beings, and children live quietly in a perfect and beautiful love environment given by the God of the Holy Spirit.
In Birds, the poet repeatedly appeals to God to show his love to mankind and prays for Almighty God to shed his love on the world.
"Our life is a gift, and we can get it only by giving our lives." ("Birds", section 56) This is a martyrdom of religious spirit. He firmly believes that God's care for human beings is selfless and fair, so people who are messengers of God should give their lives unconditionally according to God's will.
Pan-love in Bing Xin's poems is less dependent on and worships God, and focuses on human value, and its religious feelings of love are more manifested as a kind of dedication.
Bing Xin believes that love is human nature, the natural development of human desire and the driving force of human progress and social development.
This kind of love includes natural love, maternal love, children's love and human love.
In Boundaries of Infinite Life, Bing Xin made a declaration of "love" with the help of dialogue of ten thousand sounds: "Not only you and I are combined, but we are also combined with everything in the universe"; "I am you, you are me, you and I are everything, everything is space: it cannot be analyzed, nor can it be analyzed.
So-is the love between people, between people and everything, between space and space a epiphyllum? Is it a bubble? ..... We want to go to the cause of "complete integration", is it vanity? "Since then, Bing Xin has become a conscious singer of love philosophy.
In the novels Superman, Enlightenment, Poet Star, Spring Water, Prose Past, For Young Readers and other works, Bing Xin regards love as human nature, which is the natural development of human desire and the driving force of human progress, social progress and world development.
First of all, Bing Xin praised human love-maternal love.
Ode to Mother involves the third reality in Tagore's philosophy: individual and human.
In Tagore's view, human love ultimately points to God.
In Bing Xin's works, "mother" is a capitalized religious figure, a comfort to life, a model of love, and the noblest and most selfless "God".
"mom! /The wind and rain in the sky came,/The bird hid in its nest,/The wind and rain in my heart came,/I had to hide in your arms. " (Star, verse 159) In the poem, "mother" means someone who is far away from the mysterious god and closer to giving alms to all beings.
In this sense, Bing Xin transferred the characteristics of God to the ideal world of mankind.
"Creator-/If there is only one blissful promise for my eternal life/I will sincerely ask:/'I am in my mother's arms,/My mother is in the boat,/The boat is in the moonlight sea.' "It tells the author's yearning for the ultimate realm of peace, tranquility, happiness and loving life.
Bing Xin regards "maternal love" as omnipotent, and the happiness and misfortune of the soul depend on the existence of maternal love.
"Motherly love" is not only the protector of life, but also the savior of the soul. Not only the giver of the body, but also the giver of the spirit.
The universal love in Bing Xin's poems is mixed with humanitarian spirit, and she is full of the hope that human beings really love each other. "Man! /fall in love,/we are all long-distance travelers,/heading for the same destination. " As long as human beings truly love each other, they can reach the beautiful other side of the religious world together.
Secondly, the nature praised by Bing Xin's works is closely related to the phenomenon world, the second reality in Tagore's philosophy.
192 1 year, Bing Xin wrote an essay "Love of the Universe", saying that "only natural love is infinite, so why should it be distinguished from the world of love", and called "natural love" Cosmic love ".
Therefore, Bing Xin's praise of nature is a manifestation of his love for the universe and his desire to live in harmony with nature. This is actually Tagore's idea of "maintaining our relationship with the world" with the help of "love".
Both Tagore and Bing Xin regard love as a spiritual religion to save mankind, but Bing Xin pays more attention to religion and human emotional significance, hoping to arouse human rational behavior through love, thus achieving eternal harmony in the world.
Therefore, although the philosophy of religious love is the basic tone of Tagore's and Bing Xin's poems, the two poets have essential differences in their religious spiritual values.
Second, Almighty God.
In Tagore's poems, the universe is omnipotent, and "Brahman" is the universal unity of the universe.
Tagore believes that Brahma is infinite, while the phenomenal world and human beings are limited. Realizing "infinite" happiness in "finiteness" is another motif of his religious poetry creation.
"Brahman" in Tagore's poems and "God" in Christianity are interlinked. They are not only the embodiment of the omnipotence of religion, but also the masters of man's limited life. However, man depends on God, and only by giving his soul to God and merging with him can his value have meaning.
In Tagore's view, God is alive, and human life and God's life are unified, that is, infinite life and limited life are integrated, while human limited life is only unified in Brahma, and human soul has personality value.
The flying "Yu Hong" in Tagore's "Yu Hong Ji" is a symbol with special religious significance, "flying day and night,/crossing light and darkness,/from unknown coast to unknown coast.
/The void of the universe is echoing the music of wings; /'Not here, not here, but far away' "(Yu Hongji, section L).
"Far away from the horizon" is the highest realm of Brahma. No matter how many hardships of light and darkness a person's soul experiences, it should gallop towards the world of Brahma. Only in this way can a person's soul transcend the body, be filled with the religious significance of God, and realize people's faith.
In his poems, Tagore is full of sincere love and solemn awe for God and the Brahman who represents God. Only when people get close to God, fly to the realm of God and merge with Brahma can they realize their own value.
Bing Xin is also deeply influenced by the orientalization of eastern and western religions. Many of her poems reveal the omnipotence of God, such as Welcome to the Divine Comedy, Send to the Divine Comedy, Ice God, Goddess of Poetry, Yearning and Evening Prayer, etc. They all regard "God" as a source of strength to save mankind and an inclusive religious object.
In Yearning, the poet wrote: "Everything contains God, and/everything represents God; /You have a red flower of faith. /Is it possible for her to choose? " The "God" in the poem is not the hypothesis of experience, but the object of seeking comfort through human fantasy.
It is not difficult to see that the "God" in Bing Xin's poems is different from Tagore's religious omnipotence thought of the unity of man and nature, although it also has the idea of containing everything. Bing Xin's understanding of "God" is a kind of heart since the liberation of the Enlightenment, hoping to gain a quiet and clear state of mind through the enlightenment of "God". "I deeply worship-/Almighty God! Please weave the brilliance of the bright moon,/be my wise clothes,/be a solemn crown,/I will wear him/return to all beings gently and quietly. " (Evening Prayer < 1 >) Bing Xin hopes to get a sacred, bright and intelligent power from Almighty God, so as to achieve the purpose of saving all beings and finally return to the harmonious state of real life.
From this perspective, the omnipotent religious spirit of God in Bing Xin's poems has more practical significance in religious life than Tagore's theory of harmony between man and nature.
Three, one man of god.
On the religious thought of "the unity of heaven and man", Tagore tends to the theory of cosmic harmony of "the unity of Brahman and me" and "the unity of me and non-me".
The most memorable thing in his poems is to praise the martyrdom of people running towards God.
In Tagore's view, in order to pursue the ultimate meaning of life and comfort the soul, we should first regard ourselves as the culprit tumbling in the abyss, affirm our distance from "God" and "Brahman", and then, with a humble mind, seek the integration and intersection of soul and God.
The correct way of life lies in sacrificing oneself and serving mankind with the spirit of love, which is a sharp weapon against falsehood, ugliness and ugliness and a road to heaven.
This makes Tagore attach all the ultimate, perfect and sacred spiritual experiences in life to a brahmin with personality and divinity.
"Van Gogh expected me to attend his feast./I thought about abandoning my reputation./I unexpectedly wiped off the auspicious mole on my forehead./I never hesitated when I left." (Last Week Collection-Young Friends) He was summoned by Brahma, the spokesman of God, and returned to the world of God without hesitation, maintaining his unity with Brahma in a solemn manner, and reborn himself with the Holy Spirit, and the guilt of the secular mind was finally freed and promoted to the lofty realm of God.
Bing Xin's poems also have the religious thought of the unity of God and man, but different from Tagore's, Bing Xin relies more on personal feelings and experiences, praying to communicate with the expected God and God, so that God can come down from the altar of external idols.
Bing Xin believes that the "God", which symbolizes the ultimate value and sacred significance, should not only be an external force, nor be the master in the dark, but the savior of human religious spirit and the combination of human nature and divinity.
"God! /Even if the sky is gloomy,/people are lonely,/as long as there is a soul,/guarding your quiet night,/silent sadness,/it will be eliminated from the universe "(Spring Water, section 149)" God "is omnipotent and lonely at the same time, but" as long as there is a soul "and" God "
If Tagore's purpose of pursuing the unity of God and man is to realize the sanctity and sublimity of self-soul and make spirit and flesh ascend to heaven when pursuing Brahma's character realm, then Bing Xin is to integrate with God in soul through the fantasy experience of human nature and save human suffering with the help of God.
The difference between them is that Tagore regards the unity of Brahma and Me as the highest realm of religious spirit and the ultimate sanctification of human nature; Bing Xin, on the other hand, regards the harmony between man and "God" as a religious force beyond society and a sacred ideal of human self-help.