Why metaphors make good insults: perspectives, presupposition, and pragmatics

Philosophical Studies 174 (1):47--64 (2017)
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Abstract

Metaphors are powerful communicative tools because they produce ”framing effects’. These effects are especially palpable when the metaphor is an insult that denigrates the hearer or someone he cares about. In such cases, just comprehending the metaphor produces a kind of ”complicity’ that cannot easily be undone by denying the speaker’s claim. Several theorists have taken this to show that metaphors are engaged in a different line of work from ordinary communication. Against this, I argue that metaphorical insults are rhetorically powerful because they combine perspectives, presupposition, and pragmatics in the service of speech acts with assertoric force.

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Elisabeth Camp
Rutgers - New Brunswick

Citations of this work

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References found in this work

Meaning.Herbert Paul Grice - 1957 - Philosophical Review 66 (3):377-388.
Features of similarity.Amos Tversky - 1977 - Psychological Review 84 (4):327-352.
What Metaphors Mean.Donald Davidson - 1978 - Critical Inquiry 5 (1):31-47.

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