Conceptual-metaphor is a human-made cognitive theory that explains how human understanding of one conceptual domain is structured in terms of another. Parameters: (1) a source domain drawn from concrete, embodied experience; (2) a target domain that is abstract or difficult to reason about directly; (3) a systematic mapping of structural relations from source onto target. Persistence: the theory persists through language (metaphorical expressions embed the mappings in everyday speech), through teaching (cognitive science curricula propagate the framework), and through disciplinary practice (metaphor analysis is a method in linguistics, literary theory, and cognitive psychology). [formal: metaphora conceptualis | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
conceptual-metaphor
Conceptual-metaphor is a human-made cognitive theory that explains how human understanding of one conceptual domain is structured in terms of another. Parameters: (1) a source domain drawn from concrete, embodied experience; (2) a target d…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made cognitive framework that structures thought about one domain in terms of another (e.g. argument-as-war). Created by Lakoff and Johnson as a theory of embodied cognition — it is a map of how metaphor operates in reasoning, not the natural act of imagining.
Names and aliases
- conceptual-metaphoren · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrns2ij2032vd1nlzlhf5t4oDEPENDS_ON →
Conceptual metaphor (understanding one concept in terms of another via cross-domain mapping) depends on synthesis: you cannot construct a metaphor without synthesizing two distinct domains into a coherent cross-wire. Remove synthesis and conceptual-metaphor's core mechanism ceases to function. Present-tense necessity holds.
- cmrmabncj005jdveaz4ew5sgvINSTANCE_OF →
Per Law 9: conceptual-metaphor IS a specific kind of metaphor — one that maps concrete source domains to abstract target domains systematically. A competent speaker would call conceptual metaphor 'a metaphor.' Direction is correct (specific→general). Pinning sense: 'metaphor' as the general class of cross-domain mappings.
- cmrmabncj005jdveaz4ew5sgvDERIVED_FROM →
Conceptual metaphor is a theory that humans understand abstract concepts through mappings from concrete source domains. Under Law 7, which-came-first: the general concept of metaphor (linguistic/rhetorical device) predates conceptual metaphor (cognitive theory) by millennia. The conceptual theory is derived from the broader metaphor concept, extending it from language to cognition.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 17, 2026, 5:10 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 9067c3ceb002492c46e7a5042d1dee4e8c8eab3a23b762d39cf4678f9e0efe69