Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Conceptual Metaphors of Science : Prolegomena to a Cognitive History of Science

Dunér, David LU orcid (2014) 4th International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (FLTAL) p.518-525
Abstract
The cognitive abilities explained by cognitive science and cognitive semantics can inform us concerning the use of metaphors in science. The thesis is that abstract ideas rest on experiences of the concrete world. In this paper I will explain the use of conceptual metaphors in science, with examples from the mechanistic worldview of the 17th and 18th century. If we proceed from the way people think in general, their mental abilities, reason and cognition, we could get close to an understanding of how scientists during the scientific revolution shaped their ideas about the invisible geometry of matter. This is a cognitive history of ideas. What is called the ‘cognitive turn’ in the humanities has generated vigorous growth of research, for... (More)
The cognitive abilities explained by cognitive science and cognitive semantics can inform us concerning the use of metaphors in science. The thesis is that abstract ideas rest on experiences of the concrete world. In this paper I will explain the use of conceptual metaphors in science, with examples from the mechanistic worldview of the 17th and 18th century. If we proceed from the way people think in general, their mental abilities, reason and cognition, we could get close to an understanding of how scientists during the scientific revolution shaped their ideas about the invisible geometry of matter. This is a cognitive history of ideas. What is called the ‘cognitive turn’ in the humanities has generated vigorous growth of research, for example, in cognitive poetics, neuroaesthetics, and cognitive anthropology. These approaches try to arrive at an understanding of creative processes. In the historical sciences there is also a growing interest in cognitive-historical analyses, particularly in archaeology and history of science. The aim of the cognitive history of science is to reconstruct scientific thinking on the basis of cognitive theories. The starting point for a cognitive history of ideas that I defend here is that philosophy, science, and mathematics do not really happen just in texts, in language, in laboratories, or in social contexts, but in brains and minds in interaction with the world around the subject, and are thus connected to the body, to perception, thoughts, and feelings. We humans are captured in our brains situated in the world, we are dependent on our thoughts and senses, our prior knowledge, our mental images, when we try to create a picture of the world. Science, in other words, is shaped by our distinctive way of reasoning, not least in metaphors. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Applying Intercultural Linguistic Competence to Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
editor
Akbarov, Azamat
pages
8 pages
publisher
International Burch University, Sarajevo
conference name
4th International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (FLTAL)
conference location
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
conference dates
2014-05-09 - 2014-05-10
ISBN
978-9958-834-21-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bffd3164-e53a-4c6e-a657-25533a1741f9 (old id 4858069)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:45:47
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:07:03
@inproceedings{bffd3164-e53a-4c6e-a657-25533a1741f9,
  abstract     = {{The cognitive abilities explained by cognitive science and cognitive semantics can inform us concerning the use of metaphors in science. The thesis is that abstract ideas rest on experiences of the concrete world. In this paper I will explain the use of conceptual metaphors in science, with examples from the mechanistic worldview of the 17th and 18th century. If we proceed from the way people think in general, their mental abilities, reason and cognition, we could get close to an understanding of how scientists during the scientific revolution shaped their ideas about the invisible geometry of matter. This is a cognitive history of ideas. What is called the ‘cognitive turn’ in the humanities has generated vigorous growth of research, for example, in cognitive poetics, neuroaesthetics, and cognitive anthropology. These approaches try to arrive at an understanding of creative processes. In the historical sciences there is also a growing interest in cognitive-historical analyses, particularly in archaeology and history of science. The aim of the cognitive history of science is to reconstruct scientific thinking on the basis of cognitive theories. The starting point for a cognitive history of ideas that I defend here is that philosophy, science, and mathematics do not really happen just in texts, in language, in laboratories, or in social contexts, but in brains and minds in interaction with the world around the subject, and are thus connected to the body, to perception, thoughts, and feelings. We humans are captured in our brains situated in the world, we are dependent on our thoughts and senses, our prior knowledge, our mental images, when we try to create a picture of the world. Science, in other words, is shaped by our distinctive way of reasoning, not least in metaphors.}},
  author       = {{Dunér, David}},
  booktitle    = {{Applying Intercultural Linguistic Competence to Foreign Language Teaching and Learning}},
  editor       = {{Akbarov, Azamat}},
  isbn         = {{978-9958-834-21-9}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{518--525}},
  publisher    = {{International Burch University, Sarajevo}},
  title        = {{Conceptual Metaphors of Science : Prolegomena to a Cognitive History of Science}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}