more from Donald Davidson

Single Idea 7777

[catalogued under 19. Language / F. Communication / 6. Interpreting Language / d. Metaphor]

Full Idea

It is only when a sentence is taken to be false that we accept it as a metaphor.

Gist of Idea

We accept a metaphor when we see the sentence is false

Source

Donald Davidson (What Metaphors Mean [1978], p.40)

Book Reference

'On Metaphor', ed/tr. Sacks,Sheldon [Chicago 1981], p.40


A Reaction

This strikes me as a very nice and true generalisation, even though Davidson mentions "no man is an island" as a counterexample. We thirst for meaning, and switch to a second meaning when the first one looks peculiar.