Reconstruction of Metaphors in Argumentation : a Case Study of Lincoln’s Metaphor of “Swapping Horses While Crossing a Stream”

Warning

This publication doesn't include Faculty of Economics and Administration. It includes Faculty of Arts. Official publication website can be found on muni.cz.
Authors

SVAČINOVÁ Iva

Year of publication 2014
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Cogency: Journal of Reasoning and Argumentation
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web http://www.cogency.udp.cl/ediciones/12/cogency_12.html
Field Philosophy and religion
Keywords AMT model; endoxon; metaphor; pragma-dialectics; strategic maneuvering
Description The paper deals with the possibilities of reconstruction of metaphors as a means of argumentation provided by pragma-dialectics. In the case of Lincoln’s famous statement, in which he uses the metaphor of “swapping horses while crossing a stream” for replacing the President, two methods of the reconstruction currently under consideration are first introduced: metaphor as an argument by analogy in the “standard” model of pragma-dialectics and as a presentation device in pragma-dialectics extended by the concept of strategic maneuvering. Then, a competing reconstruction of Lincoln’s metaphors in the Argumentum Model of Topics (AMT) is presented, which is based on the development of the pragma-dialectical concept of material and procedural starting-points. Lincoln’s argument is reconstructed as a complex argument, where the metaphor figures as a sub-argument using locus from analogy that is used to support a datum in the main branch of the argument. This reconstruction is compared with previous solutions, and benefits of AMT are presented: the transparency of the captured argument structure and a more complex view on the strategic function of metaphor. For research of the strategic function of metaphor, the concept of keyword and the results of the research of the interaction between datum and endoxon are used. It is proposed to consider metaphor as a lexical unit used to identify a keyword.
Related projects:

You are running an old browser version. We recommend updating your browser to its latest version.