Study Questions for Lakoff and Johnson,
Philosophy in the Flesh, Part II

Study Questions by Dr. Jan Garrett

Last revised March 17, 2007

The numbers associated with the questions refer to pages in LJ, unless otherwise indicated. "LJ" refers to Lakoff and Johnson, the authors, or to Philosophy in the Flesh, which they jointly authored.

Chapter 13: The Self

97. Do we have a single consistent way of conceptualizing our inner life that covers cases when we try to control our bodies, cases in which our conscious values conflict with the values in our behavior, etc.? (267)

98. Do metaphors for the self occur cross-culturally, e.g., in the U.S. and Japan (whose languages are not at all closely related)? (267)

99. What did A. Lakoff and M. Becker discover about the general structure of our metaphors concerning our "inner lives"? (268)

100. How does this set of metaphors conceptualize the Subject? How is the Self characterized? (268)

101. What is the ultimate philosophical significance of the study of our unconscious ways of conceptualizing our inner lives? (268)

102. What kind of structure do our metaphorical conceptions of inner life have? (269) In what five ways is the basic Subject-Self metaphor grounded in everyday experience? (269)

103. What aspects of the person are associated with the Subject? Of what is the Subject also the locus? (269) What is the Self? Is there only one or many? How is the Self (Selves?) conceptualized metaphorically?

104. What is the basic Subject-Self metaphor schema?
     How is it exemplified in the Self-Control is Object Control metaphor? (270)
     How is the latter in turn exemplified in the Self-control Is Forced Movement of an Object (SC) metaphor?
     In the Body Control Is the Forced Movement of an Object metaphor? (271)
     What metaphor do we get when we combine SC with the metaphors Action Is Movement and Causes Are Forces? (271-72)

105. How does the Self-Control Is Object Possession metaphor arise? (272 bottom) Use this to explain the expression "lose oneself in [some] activity."(273)

106. What extended version of this metaphor explains the idea of spirit possession? (273-74)

107. Why is self-control associated with being in one's normal location? In the first of the two special cases, how is the self conceptualized? Use the corresponding complex metaphor to explain statements like "I was beside myself " and "He's out to lunch" (used metaphorically). (274-75)

108. In the second special case, how is the Self conceptualized? (Why is this associated with being in control?) (275) What relationship do LJ note between the two dual metaphors for self-control-being in possession of the Self and being located where the Self is? (275-76)

109. What complex metaphor explains English statements like those listed in italics at the bottom of p. 276?

110. What complex metaphor explains us to distinguish between objective and subjective knowledge? What metaphor regarding Knowing is the basis for this distinction? How is the Self conceptualized with this complex metaphor? (277)

111. What metaphor enables us to experience an Evaluative Subject-Self relationship, i.e., to conceive of evaluating ourselves. What are some of the many ways in which a Subject can be related to its Self? Give at least one example for each of these relationships of a common expression that expresses the metaphor under discussion. (278-79)

112. We talk about betraying ourselves, not being true to ourselves, letting ourselves down, etc. What metaphorical conception of Self, as distinct from the Subject, is being assumed here? What kind of a split is assumed here? (279-80)

113. How does the Multiple Selves metaphor allow us to discuss indecisiveness between values associated with different social roles? (280)

114. How do LJ differentiate the two ways in which we project our Selves onto a second person? How do Advisory and Empathic Projection differ? (281)

115. According to LJ, what is the Folk Theory of Essences that applies to human beings? (282) What is the subject matter of the Essential Self metaphor? How many Selves are there in this metaphor? How is the "true" Self conceptualized? How is the other Self conceptualized?

116. In the Inner Self version of the Essential Self metaphor, where does the Inner Self hide? Which is the "true" Self? Why does it hide? (282) How does the External Real Self metaphor differ from the Inner Self version of the Essential Self metaphor? (282)

117. Explain the True Self version of the Essential Self metaphor? What common statements express this metaphor? (283)

118. What four basic correlations in our everyday experience provide much of the basis for our metaphorical concepts of our inner life? (287)

119. Does the fact that these metaphors capture the logic of much of inner experience and characterize how we reason about it prove that the structures imposed by these metaphors are really there? (288) How do we know that there is no consistent structuring of our inner lives? (288)

120. When we "bawl ourselves out" and feel a sense of shame, does the metaphor fit a preexisting experience or does the experience arise from conceptualizing what we have done by means of the metaphor? (Where do LJ leave this question?) (288-89)