ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that our conceptual systems are fundamentally metaphorical in nature: we understand the abstract or new in terms of the concrete or familiar. As cognitive tools, metaphors unite reason and imagination. The chapter introduces a differentiation between orientational, ontological and structural metaphors and underlines certain essential features of metaphors. It claims that the realms connected by a structural or complex conceptual metaphor – the target and source domains – are separate and unavoidably incongruous. Moreover, each metaphor highlights specific qualities of the target domain and hides other qualities that do not fit the logic of the chosen source. The chapter concludes that in addition to being restrictive and selective, metaphors constantly affirm and reinforce their own validity: once a particular metaphor has been accepted as an accurate description of a situation at hand, succeeding events are interpreted according to its logic and reinforce its position.
