Metaphor, Mapmaking, and Mair: Reliving a Poetics of Psychological Inquiry

Abstract

In his groundbreaking article, “Metaphors for Living” (1976), Miller Mair characterized “living as inquiry” as (a) a psychology of questions and (b) a psychology of means and manners. Following Mair, we revisit the generative character of metaphor with regard to meaning and extend a psychology of questions and manners against the metaphorical backdrop of possibility, adventure, craft, and intimacy. Further, we elaborate the two aspects of “living as inquiry” by articulating their pertinence to storied and aesthetic experience. Finally, we consider the ethical implications of a poetics of psychological inquiry.