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48The Creation of Similarity: A Discussion of Metaphor in Light of Tversky's Theory of SimilarityPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982. 1982.The cognitive gain in the use of metaphor and simile is nicely elucidated by Tversky's theory of similarity. The features of the theory which are of special importance are the directionality and context-dependency of similarity judgments. These indicate the extent to which such judgments are classificatory and that similarity is not only the cause of an object's classification but is also a derivative of groupings. Metaphor and simile exploit certain cognitive features involved in the relation b…Read more
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43Metaphor: Its Cognitive Force and Linguistic StructureOxford University Press. 1987.Taking into account pragmatic considerations and recent linguistic and psychological studies, the author forges a new understanding of the relation between metaphoric and literal meaning. The argument is illustrated with analysis of metaphors from literature, philosophy, science, and everyday language.
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36Deadly Medicine: Project T4, Mental Disability, and Racism A very early version of this paper was inspired by the Deadly Medicine Exhibit 1, which was held at Stony Brook University 1, Spring 2009, and was presented at the 1 lecture series accompanying the exhibit, June 1, 2009 (review)Res Philosophica 93 (4): 715-741. 2016.Equal moral status for all human beings does not commit us to the malignant exclusionary practices we find in racism and pernicious nationalism. Racism (like the other harmful “ism”) involves a group that is constituted by appropriating to one’s own “primal group” a set “desirable” intrinsic properties (or traits) and expelling from the primal group those with the undesirable properties through subjugation, exploitation, sterilization, or extermination. The moral harm in racism is practiced by a…Read more
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State University of New York, Stony BrookDepartment of Philosophy
Stony Brook, New York, United States of America