Aristotle's Metaphor

Abstract

This chapter, through a detailed close reading of Derrida's critique of Aristotle's concept of metaphor in ‘White Mythology’, explores a key episode in Derrida's engagement with antiquity and assesses its impact. Derrida's consideration of etymology, definition, the linking of the linguistic and the economic, and translation demonstrate how ‘metaphor’ in Aristotle manipulates the imagery of borders, movement, and exchange so as to organize the discourse of philosophy in a way that marginalizes time, a configuration Derrida's parallel coinage différance seeks to destabilize. Aristotle's discussions are for Derrida not of simply historical interest, but remain operative in philosophical thought, a theme this chapter emphasizes by examining instances where Derrida's own insights have not impinged as they might on current thinking (the cognitive science and evolutionary psychology of Steven Pinker; the ‘conceptual metaphors’ of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson).