Pre-reading

芋圆

Before reading this book, I did some research on the Internet in order to better understand the content in it.
About the book
According to Wikipedia, Metaphors We Live By is a book by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson published in 1980. The book suggests that metaphor is a tool that enables people to use what they know about their direct physical and social experiences to understand more abstract things like work, time, mental activity, and feelings.
Since its publication, people have used the ideas Lakoff and Johnson proposed to comment on a wide range of topics, from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States to conspiracy theories.
About the author
George Philip Lakoff (born May 24, 1941) is an American cognitive linguist and philosopher, best known for his thesis that people's lives are significantly influenced by the conceptual metaphors they use to explain complex phenomena.
Mark L. Johnson (born 24 May 1949) is a Knight Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. He is known for his contributions to embodied philosophy, cognitive science, and cognitive linguistics, some of which he has coauthored with George Lakoff, such as Metaphors We Live By. He has also published on philosophical topics such as John Dewey, Immanuel Kant, and ethics.
After learning about the book and the author, I bought the Chinese version of the book online in order to better understand the content.
And I read the Preface at first to have a grasp of the whole book.
In the Preface, two authors explain their intention of writing this book and give a brief introduction to the contents of the book.
My Summary of the Preface
1. Two authors are both interested in how people understand their language and their experience.
2. The neglect of metaphor by the traditional theories on meaning in Western philosophy and linguistics
3. Metaphor is the key to giving an adequate account of understanding.
4. This book will revise certain assumptions and theories in traditional Western philosophy and linguistics and introduce the preliminary empirical methods that the authors have explored to explain not only issues of language, truth, and understanding but also questions about the meaningfulness of our everyday experience.
My Reflection
After reading the Preface, I have understood the purpose of the two authors in writing this book, some of their discoveries and achievements, as well as some some shortcomings of the Western philosophical and linguistic research at that time. I have also gained a preliminary grasp of the general content of this book. I can't wait to embark on the journey to the world of metaphor!