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Description
"Its publication should be a major event for cognitive linguistics and should pose a major challenge for cognitive science. In addition, it should have repercussions in a variety of disciplines, ranging from anthropology and psychology to epistemology and the philosophy of science. . . . Lakoff asks: What do categories of language and thought reveal about the human mind? Offering both general theory and minute details, Lakoff shows that categories reveal a great deal."--David E. Leary, American Scientist
User reviews
LibraryThing member Pivo1
Lakoff comes out swinging hard in this book, challenging the classical theory of classification. Using many examples he shows, for instance, that categories aren’t always mutually exclusive with clear boundaries. This is a dense text that isn’t that easy to get through. Though fairly old, its
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arguments are still salient and timely. Show Less
LibraryThing member sarahdeanjean
In this book Lakoff attempts to debunk the classical cognitive science theory of how humans categorize. According to Lakoff the old theory of categories limits our understanding of how humans think. His thesis for this book is that “reason is embodied and imaginative” and “not merely the
Although some ideas are useful for those studying categorization, this work is more meaningful for the world of cognitive science than to that of library science. The beginning chapters are full of the history and summaries of pertinent categorical themes (such as “family resemblances” and “functional embodiment” ), a summary of pertinent scholars (Eleanor Rosch, Roger Brown ), and followed by a dense exploration of the cognitive process of categorization in many areas (such as mathematics and zoology) as well as linguistic categorization (metaphor and metonymy).
Lakoff’s tone is often unnecessarily dire: “To change the concept of category itself is to change our understanding of the world. At stake is our understanding of everything from what a biological species is…to what a word is.” Lakoff supports his argument with good examples and explanations of his theories, but he assumes the reader has a certain amount of existing knowledge of cognitive science, which can often leave the reader confused (usually by undefined terms specific to the field). Although this work on categorization can help those in the library field identify the underlying reasons why some categorization techniques work and others do not, ultimately this work may be too dense for those outside the world of cognitive science and is certainly not recommended for those searching for a basic introduction to categorization.
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manipulation of abstract symbols that are meaningless in themselves and get their meaning only by virtue of correspondences to things in the world.” To prove the validity of his thesis, he uses cognitive models (in book one) and case studies (in book two) as evidence. Although some ideas are useful for those studying categorization, this work is more meaningful for the world of cognitive science than to that of library science. The beginning chapters are full of the history and summaries of pertinent categorical themes (such as “family resemblances” and “functional embodiment” ), a summary of pertinent scholars (Eleanor Rosch, Roger Brown ), and followed by a dense exploration of the cognitive process of categorization in many areas (such as mathematics and zoology) as well as linguistic categorization (metaphor and metonymy).
Lakoff’s tone is often unnecessarily dire: “To change the concept of category itself is to change our understanding of the world. At stake is our understanding of everything from what a biological species is…to what a word is.” Lakoff supports his argument with good examples and explanations of his theories, but he assumes the reader has a certain amount of existing knowledge of cognitive science, which can often leave the reader confused (usually by undefined terms specific to the field). Although this work on categorization can help those in the library field identify the underlying reasons why some categorization techniques work and others do not, ultimately this work may be too dense for those outside the world of cognitive science and is certainly not recommended for those searching for a basic introduction to categorization.
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LibraryThing member echaika
I have to hand it to George Lakoff. Despite his Chomsky training at MIT, he was able to break out and consider how people really construct metaphors and how much of language is really metaphor. All his works and those of his cohorts are insightful and evdn exciting, although this particular work
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has a sexist bias as the title reveals. I guess that was George's little joke Show Less
Publication
University of Chicago Press (1990), 632 pages
Original publication date
1986
Language
ISBN
0226468046 / 9780226468044
UPC
971487683720