Metaphors and the Humanizing of the Mind

Abstract

Metaphors of mind were often acknowledged as problematic by 18th-century and earlier writers, but even as these writers called for a science of mind using language of mind, they continued to rely on physicalistic language. In fact, no nonmetaphorical representation of mental phenomena is possible; problem arises when people act as if metaphorical representations are literal. During 19th century mind was humanized by development of new metaphors of mental activity to complement mind-as-entity metaphor that served as primary representation in 18th century. Most important among new metaphors was the landscape of (briefly, c;soulscape), which responded to increasing emphasis on consciousness as totality of an individual's mental life. The mind-as-entity metaphor was also vitalized to meet same need. These changes were first instituted by novelists such as James and Eliot. Nineteenth-century psychologists such as Bain remained co...