A detailed revision and refinement of the "semantic theory of metaphor," this book provides a comprehensive philosophical theory explicating metaphor's cognitive contribution. According to the author, metaphor effects a transference of meaning, not between two terms, but between two structured domains of content, or "semantic fields." Semantic fields, construed as necessary to a theory of word-meaning, provide the contrastive and affinitive relations that govern a term's literal use. In a metaphoric use, these relations are projected into a second domain which is thereby reordered with significant cognitive effects. Amply illustrated with sensitive and systematic analyses of metaphors found in literature, philosophy, science, and quotidian language, this book forges a new understanding of the relation between metaphoric and literal meaning.

Introduction; Towards a perspectival theory; The identification of metaphor; An interlude concerning context: A relational theory of meaning; Intepreting metaphor; Some alternative approaches: A critique; Semantic field theory; Semantic fields and the structure of metaphor; concluding remarks: Reference and truth in metaphor; Bibliography; Index