Are Metaphors Anomalous?
The fact that the hypothetical algorithm on the previous page is linear is in itself perhaps problematic. We might note, first of all, that a unidirectional, linear algorithm separates the process of metaphor recognition from metaphor interpretation. Are they really separate processes? For instance, try to imagine an AI program that always identifies metaphors correctly (perhaps giving an answer of “Yes, this passage is metaphorical,” “No, this passage is not metaphorical,” or “More context needed to decide”) but which cannot arrive at a meaning for these texts. Such a program seems impossible, as some of the examples I’ll discuss should illustrate. George Lakoff, too, would object to the notion that “we look first for the literal meaning of a sentence. . . and seek a metaphorical meaning only as a fallback, if we are not content with the primary literal meaning” (125). Lakoff argues that such an approach reinforces the false claim that metaphorical language is deviant and secondary to
