对话哲学视角下概念隐喻的还原分析

A Reductive Analysis of Conceptual Metaphor from the Perspective of Philosophy of Dialogue

Lakoff和Johnson的概念隐喻理论有一个基本观点,就是大部分日常语言具有隐喻性质。这个观点引发的问题是,非隐喻性的那一小部分语言是什么性质的呢?然而,对于这个问题,Lakoff和Johnson并未深究。学术界对此有所论及,但并未加以明确回答。这就有必要重新思考事关概念隐喻的两个基本问题:第一,概念隐喻的实质到底是什么?第二,非隐喻性的语言具有什么特征?如果这两个问题得到回答,那么就能判断特殊语句“I am you”和“我是你”到底是不是概念隐喻。本文针对这些问题,以Buber的对话哲学为指导,就概念隐喻进行还原分析。研究发现:概念隐喻在实质上具有思维性和次生性;一门语言中最基本的原生语词不具有隐喻性质,凡是具有隐喻性质的语词都是次生语词,属于创造出来的产物;现实语句“I am you”和“我是你”不符合概念隐喻的基本要求,而且在对话哲学视域下,它们关涉的是两个基本关系,并不具有描述性。在表达形式上,概念隐喻必须以具有描述性的语词为基础。

The theory of conceptual metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson has a fundamental claim:A great deal of ordinary language is metaphorical.This claim triggers a question to be thought about in the present study:What is the nature of the small portion of non-metaphorical language?Unfortunately,this question has not been further tackled by Lakoff and Johnson,only to have left it over unanswered in the academic world.Accordingly,the present study attempts to investigate into two basic questions with regard to conceptual metaphor:What is the nature of conceptual metaphor?What characteristic can be found from the small portion of non-metaphorical language?Centering on the two questions,the present study is to conduct a reductive analysis of conceptual metaphor from the perspective of Buber's philosophy of dialogue.Based on a series of analysis,the present study has found that the conceptual metaphor in nature is the secondary product of language and thought,and a language has a basic part consisting of primary words which cannot be metaphorical,and all metaphors are secondary and creative products in language use.Such expression as“I am you”cannot be interpreted as conceptual metaphor,simply because in terms of Buber's philosophy of dialogue the primary words“I”and“you”are not conceptually descriptive but contextually sensitive instead.