A cognitive semantic analysis of metaphor in conceptualising Particle Physics

This article presents the results of a cognitive analysis of metaphors used in conceptualisation of Particle Physics and shows how they shape our knowledge of the field. Taking as a starting point Lakoff’s Theory of Metaphor (1993), it assumes that human beings observe physical reality through their own models of experience, not as independent phenomena, many aspects of our thought and our language falling beneath cognitive awareness (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). Hence, the language that emerges to conceptualise Physics reflects historical, emotional factors that characterise the authors of this language as witnesses of a given period of time. Examples provided contribute to demonstrate that metaphor constitutes a fundamental part of our conceptual system (Gleitman & Lieberman, 1995; Smith & Osherson, 1995), even in science.