ABSTRACT
Beyond the issues, theories, and evidence that researchers have to offer there are values, expressed in images or metaphors, that transcend the specifics of any or all particular research projects. Sometimes these metaphors inspire us, sometimes they anger us and, perhaps most often, they simply slip into our modes of thought without reflection. We define our world, set agenda, and carry them out according to the metaphors we accept (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). Thus, there is a metaphysical tariff on the goods and services imported from research that applies to one's self-image and one's image of others. With its history of positivistic striving, it is scarcely surprising that most of the images of psychology are highly deterministic. Hence, my commentary is not only methodological but also hermeneutical, in the sense that there is a close reading of the authors’ text to determine its metaphors and values (e.g. Palmer, 1969; Weinsheimer, 1985).
