Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 73 (4):391-405 (2015)
Authors | |
Abstract |
In this article, I start with the observation that aesthetic terms resist metaphorical interpretation; that is, it makes little sense to say that something is beautiful metaphorically speaking or to say something is metaphorically elegant, harmonious, or sublime. I argue that aesthetic terms’ lack of metaphorical interpretations is not explained by the fact that their applicability is not limited to a particular category of objects, at least in the standard sense of ‘category.’ In general, I challenge category-based accounts of metaphorical interpretability and instead offer an alternative explanation for aesthetic terms’ lack of metaphorical interpretations, one that involves the notion of context shifts rather than category violations. I argue that what is required for metaphorical interpretability is the joint satisfaction of two conditions: multidimensionality and the presence of a default dimension. Aesthetic terms lack metaphorical readings because they fail to satisfy, even though they satisfy. I argue that the alternative account I offer is predictively adequate, more parsimonious, less subject to counterexamples, and hence preferable to the category-based one
|
Keywords | aesthetic terms metaphor |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1111/jaac.12215 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Demonstratives: An Essay on the Semantics, Logic, Metaphysics and Epistemology of Demonstratives and Other Indexicals.David Kaplan - 1989 - In Joseph Almog, John Perry & Howard Wettstein (eds.), Themes From Kaplan. Oxford University Press. pp. 481-563.
Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind.George Lakoff - 1987 - Philosophy and Rhetoric 22 (4):299-302.
Semantics, Pragmatics, and the Role of Semantic Content.Jeffrey C. King & Jason Stanley - 2005 - In Zoltan Gendler Szabo (ed.), Semantics Versus Pragmatics. Oxford University Press. pp. 111--164.
View all 24 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
No citations found.
Similar books and articles
Aesthetic Terms, Metaphor, and the Nature of Aesthetic Properties.Rafael De Clercq - 2005 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 63 (1):27–32.
An Aesthetic Theory for Metaphor: How to Avoid Beating a Good Metaphor to Death.Surekha Gillian Parker - 1994 - Dissertation, Indiana University
Aesthetic Terms, Metaphor, and Categories: A Reply to De Clercq.Hanna Kim - 2015 - Philosophia 43 (4):1059-1066.
The Life and Death of a Metaphor, or the Metaphysics of Metaphor.Josef Stern - 2007 - The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication 3.
A Philosophical Examination of Metaphor.Patti Diane Nogales - 1993 - Dissertation, Stanford University
Music, Metaphor, and Aesthetic Concepts.Nick Zangwill - 2014 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 72 (1):1-11.
The Cultural Basis of Metaphor Revisited.Lionel Wee - 2006 - Pragmatics and Cognition 14 (1):111-128.
The Aesthetics and Heuristics of Analogy: Model and Metaphor in Chemical Communication.Heinz L. Kretzenbacher - 2003 - Hyle 9 (2):191 - 218.
Explaining Metaphor: A Pluralistic Approach.Daniel J. Costello - 1995 - Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Extending the Metaphor: Lessons for Language.M. Lynne Tirrell - 1986 - Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh
On the Very Importance of the Metaphoric as Semantic to Communication, Understanding, and the Philosophy of Language.Mark A. Matienzo - 2001 - Dissertation, College of Wooster
Music, Essential Metaphor, and Private Language.Nick Zangwill - 2011 - American Philosophical Quarterly 48 (1):1.
Christopher Peacocke's 'the Perception of Music'.Laurence Dreyfus - 2009 - British Journal of Aesthetics 49 (3):293-297.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2015-08-23
Total views
15 ( #647,916 of 2,409,841 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #541,271 of 2,409,841 )
2015-08-23
Total views
15 ( #647,916 of 2,409,841 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #541,271 of 2,409,841 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads