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    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

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Biology as Society, Society as Biology: Metaphors

Biology as Society, Society as Biology: Metaphors

Mendelsohn, E.
Weingart, P.
Maasen, Sabine

Hardcover

Series: Sociology of the Sciences Yearbook, Book 18

PhilosophyGeneral ReferenceHistory & Philosophy of Science

ISBN10: 0792331745
ISBN13: 9780792331742
Publisher: Springer
Published: Mar 31 1995
Pages: 356
Weight: 1.52
Height: 0.81 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
not lie in the conceptual distinctions but in the perceived functions of metaphors and whether in the concrete case they are judged positive or negative. The ongoing debates reflect these concerns quite clearly namely that metaphors are judged on the basis of supposed dangers they pose and opportunities they offer. These are the criteria of evaluation that are obviously dependent on the context in which the transfer of meaning occurs. Our fundamental concern is indeed the transfer itself its prospects and its limits. Looking at possible functions of metaphors is one approach to under- standing and elucidating sentiments about them. The papers in this volume illustrate, by quite different examples, three basic functions of metaphors: illustrative, heuristic and constitutive. These functions rep- resent different degrees of transfer of meaning. Metaphors are illustrative when they are used primarily as a literary device, to increase the power of conviction of an argument, for example. Although the difference between the illustrative and the heuristic function of metaphors is not great, it does exist: metaphors are used for heuristic purposes whenever differences of meaning are employed to open new perspectives and to gain new insights. In the case of constitutive metaphors they function to actually replace previous meanings by new ones. Sabine Maasen in her paper introduces the distinction between transfer and transforma- tion.

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