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Signale: Modern German Letters, Cultures, and Thought
Paradigms for a Metaphorology
"Paradigms for a Metaphorology may be read as a kind of beginner's guide to Blumenberg, a programmatic introduction to his vast and multifaceted oeuvre. Its brevity makes it an ideal point of entry for readers daunted by the sheer bulk of Blumenberg's later writings, or distracted by their profusion of historical detail. Paradigms expresses many of Blumenberg's key ideas with a directness, concision, and clarity he would rarely match elsewhere. What is more, because it served as a beginner's guide for its author as well, allowing him to undertake an initial survey of problems that would preoccupy him for the remainder of his life, it has the additional advantage that it can offer us a glimpse into what might be called the 'genesis of the Blumenbergian world.'"--from the Afterword by Robert Savage
What role do metaphors play in philosophical language? Are they impediments to clear thinking and clear expression, rhetorical flourishes that may well help to make philosophy more accessible to a lay audience, but that ought ideally to be eradicated in the interests of terminological exactness? Or can the images used by philosophers tell us more about the hopes and cares, attitudes and indifferences that regulate an epoch than their carefully elaborated systems of thought?
In Paradigms for a Metaphorology, originally published in 1960 and here made available for the first time in English translation, Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) approaches these questions by examining the relationship between metaphors and concepts. Blumenberg argues for the existence of "absolute metaphors" that cannot be translated back into conceptual language. These metaphors answer the supposedly na�ve, theoretically unanswerable questions whose relevance lies quite simply in the fact that they cannot be brushed aside, since we do not pose them ourselves but find them already posed in the ground of our existence. They leap into a void that concepts are unable to fill.
An afterword by the translator, Robert Savage, positions the book in the intellectual context of its time and explains its continuing importance for work in the history of ideas.
What role do metaphors play in philosophical language? Are they impediments to clear thinking and clear expression, rhetorical flourishes that may well help to make philosophy more accessible to a lay audience, but that ought ideally to be eradicated in the interests of terminological exactness? Or can the images used by philosophers tell us more about the hopes and cares, attitudes and indifferences that regulate an epoch than their carefully elaborated systems of thought?
In Paradigms for a Metaphorology, originally published in 1960 and here made available for the first time in English translation, Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) approaches these questions by examining the relationship between metaphors and concepts. Blumenberg argues for the existence of "absolute metaphors" that cannot be translated back into conceptual language. These metaphors answer the supposedly na�ve, theoretically unanswerable questions whose relevance lies quite simply in the fact that they cannot be brushed aside, since we do not pose them ourselves but find them already posed in the ground of our existence. They leap into a void that concepts are unable to fill.
An afterword by the translator, Robert Savage, positions the book in the intellectual context of its time and explains its continuing importance for work in the history of ideas.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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193 people want to read
About the author
Hans Blumenberg
70 books61 followersHans Blumenberg (1920-1996) was a prominent German philosopher, known for his work in intellectual history and phenomenology. He is best remembered for his development of "metaphorology," a method that investigates the role of metaphors in shaping human thought, particularly in philosophy and culture. Blumenberg's most famous works include The Legitimacy of the Modern Age (1966) and The Genesis of the Copernican World (1975), where he explored the historical and philosophical implications of metaphors and their transformative effects on human understanding.
Born in Lübeck, Germany, Blumenberg's career spanned several prestigious academic positions, including professorships at the University of Hamburg, University of Gießen, and University of Münster. His intellectual contributions deeply influenced fields such as philosophy, literary studies, and history of ideas. He was particularly concerned with how philosophical concepts were deeply intertwined with metaphors and how these shaped the intellectual trajectories of entire periods, like the Renaissance or the Enlightenment.
Blumenberg's work focused not only on philosophy but also on the philosophy of technology, language, and aesthetics, drawing from a broad range of sources, including phenomenology, historical analysis, and myth theory. His exploration of "absolute metaphors" — ideas that transcend their original metaphorical contexts and become integral to philosophical and cultural systems — marked a major contribution to postwar German thought.
Born in Lübeck, Germany, Blumenberg's career spanned several prestigious academic positions, including professorships at the University of Hamburg, University of Gießen, and University of Münster. His intellectual contributions deeply influenced fields such as philosophy, literary studies, and history of ideas. He was particularly concerned with how philosophical concepts were deeply intertwined with metaphors and how these shaped the intellectual trajectories of entire periods, like the Renaissance or the Enlightenment.
Blumenberg's work focused not only on philosophy but also on the philosophy of technology, language, and aesthetics, drawing from a broad range of sources, including phenomenology, historical analysis, and myth theory. His exploration of "absolute metaphors" — ideas that transcend their original metaphorical contexts and become integral to philosophical and cultural systems — marked a major contribution to postwar German thought.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 21, 2021
"[...] it is robust, crisp to the point of acerbity, and ought not to be consumed too quickly if one wants to avoid coming away from it with a buzzing head" .......incredible book. If you're looking where to start with Blumenberg's philosophy this is a great place to begin.
Every page had a dozen lines worth quoting but these are two that stuck with me:
in Plotinus's "deduction of the circular movement of the sky from the cosmic soul's imitation of pure Mind *the structure of metaphor itself* is *metaphysically hypostasized*. In its nature, in the 'language' of its being, the soul can neither grasp nor adequately 'replicate' the Mind; its mimesis can hit its target only in missing it, be true only by being different: in structural terms, it already preempts Cusanus's 'learned ignorance' (a fertile source of metaphysical metaphorics)"
and of course:
absolute metaphor "springs into a nonconceptualizable, conceptually unfilable gap and lacuna to express itself in its own way"
Every page had a dozen lines worth quoting but these are two that stuck with me:
in Plotinus's "deduction of the circular movement of the sky from the cosmic soul's imitation of pure Mind *the structure of metaphor itself* is *metaphysically hypostasized*. In its nature, in the 'language' of its being, the soul can neither grasp nor adequately 'replicate' the Mind; its mimesis can hit its target only in missing it, be true only by being different: in structural terms, it already preempts Cusanus's 'learned ignorance' (a fertile source of metaphysical metaphorics)"
and of course:
absolute metaphor "springs into a nonconceptualizable, conceptually unfilable gap and lacuna to express itself in its own way"
December 20, 2025
perfecto
March 14, 2022
Blumenberg explores the use of metaphors in philosophy through a number of base-metaphors, including truth as a force, knowledge as light and so on. By using a number of key themes he is able to show the ways that philosophers over time have relied on the connotative power to emphasise their ideas, including a ‘push’ of their theories of ‘enlightenment.’
Most interesting is that Blumenberg traces many “founding” or “background” metaphors back to similar ‘branches’ and ‘roots’ some twenty years before Lakoff and Johnson coined the idea of “conceptual” metaphors. Blumenberg demonstrates through examples from philosophical treatises that truth is a force that presses upon us, moves us, propels us, pushes, pulls, sets itself as a seal upon our soul, the Americans Lakoff and Johnson would later use colloquial student-chit-chat to come to a similar conclusion, showing that when someone says ‘our relationship is going nowhere’ or ‘we’re on the skids’ that love is a journey.
Overall, an interesting read that highlight both the usefulness and trickiness of metaphors in language, thought, philosophy and literature. I particularly liked his notion that metaphorology is essentially an experiment, with the emphasis on the experience. In testing out the boundaries, stretching it into infinity, or collapsing it in upon itself, what at first seems logical and viable eventually falls apart and the metaphor ceases to be of assistance, and in fact ceases to be a metaphor. It is the experience of the transcendence of logic that makes metaphor analysis both rewarding and impossible. Metaphorology will therefore, always be a journey not a destination.
Even if you don’t read the whole book, don’t skip the translator’s notes at the end, as they explain much of Blumenberg’s approach.
Most interesting is that Blumenberg traces many “founding” or “background” metaphors back to similar ‘branches’ and ‘roots’ some twenty years before Lakoff and Johnson coined the idea of “conceptual” metaphors. Blumenberg demonstrates through examples from philosophical treatises that truth is a force that presses upon us, moves us, propels us, pushes, pulls, sets itself as a seal upon our soul, the Americans Lakoff and Johnson would later use colloquial student-chit-chat to come to a similar conclusion, showing that when someone says ‘our relationship is going nowhere’ or ‘we’re on the skids’ that love is a journey.
Overall, an interesting read that highlight both the usefulness and trickiness of metaphors in language, thought, philosophy and literature. I particularly liked his notion that metaphorology is essentially an experiment, with the emphasis on the experience. In testing out the boundaries, stretching it into infinity, or collapsing it in upon itself, what at first seems logical and viable eventually falls apart and the metaphor ceases to be of assistance, and in fact ceases to be a metaphor. It is the experience of the transcendence of logic that makes metaphor analysis both rewarding and impossible. Metaphorology will therefore, always be a journey not a destination.
Even if you don’t read the whole book, don’t skip the translator’s notes at the end, as they explain much of Blumenberg’s approach.
August 29, 2017
Testo affascinante tanto quanto arduo e rigoroso, non esattamente una classificazione di metafore, piuttosto un'analisi tematica dei pensieri filosofici che le hanno sorrette.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews