The structures are similar because they evolved to do the same job, not because they were inherited from a common ancestor. The forelimbs of all mammals have the same basic bone structure.Īnalogous structures are structures that are similar in unrelated organisms. However, their forelimbs now have different functions. They inherited this pattern from a common ancestor. They all have the same basic pattern of bones. Figure below shows the hands of several different mammals. These structures may or may not have the same function in the descendants. Homologous structures are structures that are similar in related organisms because they were inherited from a common ancestor. Similar body parts may be homologies or analogies. I deny that these functions are identical I deny that the metaphorical function is necessarily false or necessarily true.\)Ĭomparative anatomy is the study of the similarities and differences in the structures of different species. Each meaning is a function from (possible) worlds to truth-values. I'll argue that some sentences in natural languages like English have multiple meanings: "Juliet is the sun" has (at least) two meanings: the literal meaning "(Juliet is the sunkIT" and the metaphorical meaning "(Juliet is the sun)MET". I aim to extend possible worlds semantics to handle metaphors. STM is a semant ic theory of m etaphor : if STM is correct, then metaphors are cognitively meaningful and are n- trivially logically linked with truth.
Since my theory makes great use of the notion of structure, I refer to it as the structural theory of m etaphor (STM). While I don't presuppose any formal training in logic, some familiarity with philosophical logic (the propositional calculus and the predicate c- culus) is helpful. I stress the role of logic in the generation and int- pretation of metaphors. What distinguishes this work is that it focuses intensely on the logical aspects of metaphors.
My goal here is to show how contemporary formal semantics can be extended to handle metaphorical utterances.
I aim to use logical techniques to analyze the meanings of metaphors. Metaphors and Logic Metaphors are among the most vigorous offspring of the creative mind but their vitality springs from the fact that they are logical organisms in the ecology of l- guage.
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