The entire human conceptual system operates metaphorically, not just literary language.

Evidence

But how do metaphors construct thought and create identity? As should be clear by now, metaphor as we use it here is not simply the literary term we learned in English class. As linguists Lakoff and Johnson (2003) point out, our entire conceptual system is metaphorical—we are always conceiving of some aspect of the world in terms of something else, that is, with words that are not exactly that thing. This goes back to Bateson’s idea that the map is not the territory. Even language itself is understood metaphorically. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 493

Categorization

• DEFINE: Expands metaphor’s definition beyond the literary term to a claim about all conceptual thought — foundation for the chapter’s whole argument.
• XREF: Recalls Bateson’s map/territory already invoked, and connects to the broader interpretive/method thread shared across polyad courses. — connects to: Root metaphors combine into culturally inherited discourses and discursive practices — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 525; Autonomous thinking self is a fiction; mind is relational communication — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 464; All language is composed of metaphors that we endlessly repurpose — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 78 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Even abstract thought is built from physical and sensory metaphors #expands (0.95) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 728
• All language is composed of metaphors that we endlessly repurpose #corroborates (0.85) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 78
• Conceptual abstraction is itself a metaphorical act because it posits resemblance among distinct existents #corroborates (0.82) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 507
• Metaphors materially shape intellectual and political practice. #expands (0.80)
• Language preserves fossilized worldviews within its living metaphors #corroborates (0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1599