Pensar la propia vida. Susanne Langer sobre abstracción, metáfora y filosofía (original) (raw)
2023, No somos islas. Homenaje al profesor Jaime Nubiola
In this paper I offer a new look at the semiotic ideas that underlie Susanne Langer’s philosophical project. Based on these ideas, I present a Langerian defense of philosophy, in its two main senses: philosophy as the reflection upon our own life (to which anyone should, ideally, aspire) and philosophy as the expert knowledge of the broadest concepts for the categorization of the world (which is the task of academic philosophy). In the first section I focus on the semiotic theory that Langer develops in Philosophy in a New Key (1942), highlighting the strictly logical aspects of her notions and distinctions. The second section studies the notion of “abstraction”, with which Langer captures the human ability of “seeing one thing in another”, which is the basis of metaphorical thinking. The key to understanding the semantic mechanism of metaphor lies in the idea that “presentational” symbols (in contrast to “discursive” symbols) are natural symbols, which exemplify the abstract form they symbolize. This peculiarity allows for the non-arbitrary extension of meaning which characterizes metaphor. Thus, metaphorical meaning can be understood, in Langer, not as a deviation from literal meaning, but as a semantic development towards a higher level of abstraction. The final section focuses on the role of metaphorical forms in human understanding (and on the important role this still leaves for philosophy). As a conclusion, the connection between philosophy and life that inspires Langer's thought is highlighted, and the effective role of academic philosophy in human life is defended.
Sign up for access to the world's latest research.
checkGet notified about relevant papers
checkSave papers to use in your research
checkJoin the discussion with peers
checkTrack your impact
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.