| 1. |
- Gelhaus, Petra
(författare)
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Man as a Gene-Machine : Scope and History of a Metaphor
- 2009
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Ingår i: Zeitschrift für Semiotik. - : Stauffenburg Verlag. - 0170-6241. ; 31:3-4, s. 397-410
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This contribution analyzes four versions of the traditional analogy between a human being and a machine: medieval Christian ideas of creation, Descartes, La Mettrie, as well as mechanistic and deterministic ideas used in human genetics. The analysis takes into account the intended depth of the analogy (comparison, metaphor, model, theory, or ontology) as well as the varying concepts of a „machine”.
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| 2. |
- Sonesson, Göran
(författare)
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On metaphors in images
- 2003
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Ingår i: Zeitschrift für Semiotik. - 0170-6241. ; 25:1-2, s. 25-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Proceeding from the assumption that metaphors as well as pictures are iconic signs, the present contribution studies what happens when metaphors occur in figurative pictures. The author distinguishes between primary iconicity, the recognition of which is a condition for the categorization of an object as a sign, and secondary iconicity, which is perceived only after an object has been categorized as a sign. Figurative pictures (as opposed to droodles) are characterized by primary iconicity and metaphors by secondary iconicity. In addition to iconicity the indexicality of metaphors is discussed, which results in the distinction between modularity and contiguity as two possible relations between expression and content in a pictorial metaphor. It is shown that the process of secondary iconization in the understanding of a pictorial metaphor is triggered by its indexicality. In figurative pictures the beholder normally relates all details on the level of expression to specific details of content. However, because of the open character of secondary iconization, this does not necessarily happen in metaphors - not even in metaphors that occur in pictures.
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| 3. |
- Zlatev, Jordan, et al.
(författare)
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Die Möglichkeit sprachlichen Einflusses auf das Denken
- 2013
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Ingår i: Zeitschrift für Semiotik. - 0170-6241. ; 35:1-2, s. 63-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, we discuss four obstacles that stand in the way for a productive investigation into the kind of influence that language may have on thinking. The first is that it is impossible to distinguish language from thought, so that the question of possible “influence” is mute. The second is that it is impossible to disentangle language from culture in general, and from social interaction in particular, so that it is impossible to attribute any differences in the thought patterns of the members of different cultures to language per se. The third objection argues that language may affect thinking by expressing new information, but that thesis is either trivial or untenable because of methodological and empirical problems. The fourth is the assumption that since language can potentially influence thought from “not at all” to “completely”, the possible forms of verbal influence can be arranged on a cline, and competing theories can be seen as debating their actual position on this cline. We present counter-arguments to all these claims, and show that the first three do not constitute in principle objections against the project of investigating verbal influence on thought, and the last one is not the best way to frame the empirical challenge at hand. Thus, while we do not argue for any specific type of verbal influence on thought, we claim that it is possible, and thereby intend to clear the way for further investigations into the topic.
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