Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)
Studies - Ágnes Deli: Cognition and politeness
Once you reach that point in the argument, you've got to go on to the conclusion. The next step is to demonstrate that monkeys can make tools. He got off the track of the argument. That assumption will lead you astray. In what follows I assume that cognition is a complex process in which two major domains of human experience play a determining role: the domain of 'KNOWING' and the domain of 'NOT KNOWING'. These are psychological states of mind alternating in the process of cognition, intertwining, and verbal communication presupposes the presence of both. Cognition is a tour across these domains. 2. Conceptual Metaphors of Cognition In the following I propose some elaboration of Lakoff and Johnson's (1980) ontological metaphor: 'The Mind Is a Container'. My suggestion is that psychological and cognitive states, as products of the mind, just like ideas, are also experienced as a substance. Some states of mind are experienced as a pervading material medium into which humans can descend in the same way as they can plunge into a pool of water. The English language reflects this metaphorical projection in phrases expressing the shift into certain psychological states such as: plunge into despair, plunge into daydreaming. One can also plunge into one's thoughts, an obvious evidence that cognitive processes are experienced in a similar way. Other phrases imply that "States of Mind Are Territories": I don't want to intrude on your grief. Don't intrude into her solitude . Part of the concept of 'Knowledge' seems to be the metaphor 'Knowledge Is Mental Space'. States of consciousness like 'KNOWING' and 'NOT KNOWING' are territories, i.e. domains of the mind, which is reflected by phrases such as live in ignorance, be / live in a fool's paradise, or be in the belief that..., advance in scientific knowledge. 88
