Lakoff & Johnson

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson are renowned for exploring how our thoughts and language are shaped by metaphors. They argue that much of our understanding isn’t just literal but is constructed through metaphorical frameworks, influencing how we perceive concepts like time, morality, and emotion. For example, we often think of time as a journey ("We’re approaching a deadline"), shaping how we experience and discuss it. Their work highlights that metaphors are fundamental to cognition, underpinning our language, reasoning, and worldview, and that understanding these metaphors can reveal how we navigate complex ideas and social issues.