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Accordingtotheassumptionsofthecognitivelinguisticsthefactthatthe
experienceisevokeddoesnotmeanthatthesubjectofthinkingisnotabstract.On
thecontrary,theexperienceevokedbytheconceptualmappingsallowsforcoherent
reasoningabouttargetsandassuchtheycanbeseenasatestimonytorationality27.
Thisprinciplemakescognitivelinguisticsagoodtoolfortheinvestigationof
philosophicalthoughtexpressedinapoeticway.Lakoff,Johnson(1999)haveshown
howeventhecomplexphilosophicalconceptsofWesternthoughtaremotivatedby
metaphoricmappingsandfolktheorieswhichtheydefineasthebasicexplanatory
modelssharedbyaculturalcommunityandmakingupculture’scommonsense28.
Moreover,itseemsthatthecomposersoftheRVwereaware(maybeeven
morethantheirWesterncolleagues)ofmappingsandfolktheorieswhichmotivated
theirthought.Thereisevidencethattheyconsciouslyplayedwiththemnotonlyto
composenovelliterarycreationsbutalsotoexpressmetaphysicalideas.Astheresult,
wecanseetwotendenciesintheRV
.Ontheonehand,thereisacleartendencyfor
abstractionandgeneralisation.Ontheotherhand,thereisatendencytocreateholistic
concepts,richinimageryandmeaning,whichsometimesevencontaincontradiction.
Thesetwotendenciesservedthesameaimwhichisthecreationofconceptswhich
allowfortheexpressionofphilosophicalideas.Inordertoinvestigatetheseideas
Iwillusetheapparatusofcognitivelinguisticstodefinethespecificnatureofcertain
keyconceptsintheRV
.
1.4.Tendencytogeneralisationandabstraction.Defining
events,generaldomainsandthegeneralmodelofreality
transformation
Asalreadystated,conceptualmetonymyandmetaphoroftenunderliepolysemic
extensionandassuchtheycanbeseenasimportantmechanismsleadingto
generalisationandabstraction.Ontheconceptuallevel,polysemicwordsreflect
categoriestheelementsofwhicharerelated–ascognitivelinguistssay–byfamily
resemblance(Lakoff1987:12ff.).Suchcategoriesaregeneralinthattheygrasp
inoneconceptcommonfeaturesofvariousphenomena(Pulvermüller2002:8).
Detachedfromtheirexperientialground,theybecomeabstractconcepts.
27
ForexamplethemetonymySpecificForGenericallowsustoreasonaboutwholecategoriesin
termsoftheirelementsknownfromeverydaylifeexperience(Radden,Kövecses1991,Radden
2003b).MetaphoriscalledbyLakoff,Johnson(1980:193)‘imaginativerationality’because
itunitesreason(which‘involvescategorisation,entailment,andinference’)andimagination
(‘whichinvolvesseeingonekindofthingintermsofanotherkindofthing’).
28
Lakoff,Johnson1999:352.Theembodiedandmetaphoricalcharacterofmathematicshasalso
beeninvestigated(Lakoff,Nuñez2000),FauconnierandTurner(1998,2003)discusstherole
ofblendingincreatingabstractmathematicalconcepts.Theusefulnessofthemethodologyof
cognitivelinguisticsintheinvestigationofIndianphilosophyhasbeennoticedbyPotter1988.
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