SPEAKING OF METAPHORS: Yes, I know I promised a post on “language as poetry.” But I don’t have much to say really–just a quick observation. I think Nietzsche called all language “dead metaphor” (somebody drop me an email if you know), but in fact, the metaphorical aspects of language seem to me to be rich and alive. There are some areas of life that are jammed with metaphors that don’t necessarily do a ton of allusive work–like blogging and BBS’s, which is what made me think of this. Look at all the metaphors: Web; site; post; thread; boards; etc. Even in this fairly drab area of language, metaphors flourish. We rely on them. We need the connections formed by allusion; we understand the new in light of the old, and so our language links us to older traditions. We’re connection-seeing animals, and therefore poetic animals. If those perceived connections are false or random, we’re trapped in our worldviews, bounded by the iron bars of our language (/culture/tradition) from finding truth. (Or even engaging in philosophy or persuading one another–cf. Richard Rorty’s use of the “paradigm shift” metaphor, and Donald Davidson’s chastising of those who lean too heavily on that metaphor–for Rorty try Philosophy and Social Hope; for Davidson, “On the Very Notion of a Conceptual Scheme.”)

OK, gotta run, but there’s a little bit of randomness to end your day.