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Justice ‘Under’ Law: The Bodily Incarnation of Legal Conceptions Over Time

Larsson, Stefan LU (2014) In International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 27(4). p.613-626
Abstract
The article uses embodiment and the experiential basis of conceptual metaphor to argue for the metaphorical essence of abstract legal thought. Abstract concepts like ‘law’ and ‘justice’ need to borrow from a spatial, bodily, or physical prototype in order to be conceptualised, seen, for example, in the fact that justice preferably is found ‘under’ law. Three conceptual categories of how law is conceptualised is examined: law as an object, law as a vertical relation, and law as an area. The Google Ngram Viewer, based on the massive library of books that Google has scanned, has been used to study legally relevant conceptions over time within each of these three categories, from 1800 to 2000. In addition, the article suggests a type of... (More)
The article uses embodiment and the experiential basis of conceptual metaphor to argue for the metaphorical essence of abstract legal thought. Abstract concepts like ‘law’ and ‘justice’ need to borrow from a spatial, bodily, or physical prototype in order to be conceptualised, seen, for example, in the fact that justice preferably is found ‘under’ law. Three conceptual categories of how law is conceptualised is examined: law as an object, law as a vertical relation, and law as an area. The Google Ngram Viewer, based on the massive library of books that Google has scanned, has been used to study legally relevant conceptions over time within each of these three categories, from 1800 to 2000. In addition, the article suggests a type of analytical method of ‘metaphor triangulation,’ that is, the replacement of prevailing metaphors with unusual ones in order to increase the level of awareness of what conceptual content the prevailing metaphors involve. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Embodiment, Conceptual metaphor, Law and justice, Law and embodiment, Law and metaphor
in
International Journal for the Semiotics of Law
volume
27
issue
4
pages
613 - 626
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:84888104275
ISSN
0952-8059
DOI
10.1007/s11196-013-9341-x
project
Legal Challenges in a Digital Context
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ad188710-b03d-4b9c-9c96-74e0806cc87c (old id 4178656)
alternative location
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-013-9341-x
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:27:01
date last changed
2022-03-27 08:28:10
@article{ad188710-b03d-4b9c-9c96-74e0806cc87c,
  abstract     = {{The article uses embodiment and the experiential basis of conceptual metaphor to argue for the metaphorical essence of abstract legal thought. Abstract concepts like ‘law’ and ‘justice’ need to borrow from a spatial, bodily, or physical prototype in order to be conceptualised, seen, for example, in the fact that justice preferably is found ‘under’ law. Three conceptual categories of how law is conceptualised is examined: law as an object, law as a vertical relation, and law as an area. The Google Ngram Viewer, based on the massive library of books that Google has scanned, has been used to study legally relevant conceptions over time within each of these three categories, from 1800 to 2000. In addition, the article suggests a type of analytical method of ‘metaphor triangulation,’ that is, the replacement of prevailing metaphors with unusual ones in order to increase the level of awareness of what conceptual content the prevailing metaphors involve.}},
  author       = {{Larsson, Stefan}},
  issn         = {{0952-8059}},
  keywords     = {{Embodiment; Conceptual metaphor; Law and justice; Law and embodiment; Law and metaphor}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{613--626}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{International Journal for the Semiotics of Law}},
  title        = {{Justice ‘Under’ Law: The Bodily Incarnation of Legal Conceptions Over Time}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/1853933/5042477.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11196-013-9341-x}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}