ABSTRACT
An important point of sociology of law which is often brought up is law's social dependence. This is also one of the key arguments for using the concept of norms to analyse society. This chapter demonstrates how the fundamental lingual and conceptual meanings of metaphors and conceptions support this point. The chapter is explorative in bringing findings from cognitive linguistics into the quite common socio-legal task of studying norms. The promise of cognitive theory is here found in its ability to make explicit the unconscious and cognitive operations that structure our conceptions of reality. The key findings concern how categorization is done, the case of 'prototype effects', and the framing aspects of conceptions and metaphors. This is further emphasized by the process of embodiment of metaphors, and, hence, law. This process is of great interest for anyone concerned with understanding law's place in society as a cognitive, lingual and cultural artefact.
