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not lie in the conceptual distinctions but in the perceived functions of metaphors and whether in the concrete case they are judged positive or negative. The ongoing debates reflect these concerns quite clearly~ namely that metaphors are judged on the basis of supposed dangers they pose and opportunities they offer. These are the criteria of evaluation that are obviously dependent on the context in which the transfer of meaning occurs. Our fundamental concern is indeed the transfer itself~ its prospects and its limits. Looking at possible functions of metaphors is one approach to under standing and elucidating sentiments about them. The papers in this volume illustrate, by quite different examples, three basic functions of metaphors: illustrative, heuristic~ and constitutive. These functions rep resent different degrees of transfer of meaning. Metaphors are illustrative when they are used primarily as a literary device, to increase the power of conviction of an argument, for example. Although the difference between the illustrative and the heuristic function of metaphors is not great, it does exist: metaphors are used for heuristic purposes whenever "differences" of meaning are employed to open new perspectives and to gain new insights. In the case of "constitutive" metaphors they function to actually replace previous meanings by new ones. Sabine Maasen in her paper introduces the distinction between transfer and transforma tion.
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BIOLOGY AS SOCIETY, SOCIETY AS BIOLOGY: METAPHORS
Sociology o/the Sciences A YEARBOOK - VOLUME XVIII - 1994 Managing Editor:
R.D. Whitley, Manchester Business Sch90i, University of Manchester Editorial Board:
Y. Ezrahi, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem B. Joerges, WZB, Berlin E. Mendelsohn, Harvard University Y. F. Murakami, University of Tokyo H. Nowotny, Institutfor Wissenschaftstheorie und Wissenschaftsforschung, Vienna T. Shinn, Groupe d' Etude des Methodes de l'Analyse Sociologique, Paris P. Weingart, University of Bielefeld B. Wittrock, SCASSS, Uppsala
The titles published in this series are listed at the end o/this volume.
BIOLOGY AS SOCIETY, SOCIETY AS BIOLOGY: METAPHORS Edited by SABINE MAASEN University of Bielefeld
EVERETT MENDELSOHN Harvard University
and PETER WEINGART University of Bielefeld
SPRINGER -SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A.C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Blo1ogy as soclety. soclety as blo1ogy : metaphors I edited by Sabine Maasen. Everett Mendelsohn. Peter Weingart. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-4020-0251-9 ISBN 978-94-011-0673-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-0673-3
1. Soclobiology. 2. Human blo1ogy--Phi losophy. evolutlon--Phl1osophy. I. Maasen. Sablne. 1960II. Mendelsohn. Everett. III.Welngart. Peter. GN365.9.B544 1995 304.5--dc20
3. Human
94-36251
ISBN 978-1-4020-0251-9
Printed on acid-free paper
AlI Rights Reserved © 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1995 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includ ing photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: SABINE MAASEN, EVERETT MENDELSOHN, PETER WEINGART / Metaphors: Is There a Bridge over Troubled Waters?
1
PART I: METAPHORS REVALUED SABINE MAASEN / Who is Afraid of Metaphors?
11
L()RRAINE DASTON / How Nature Became the Other: Anthropomorphism and Anthropocentrism in Early Modern Natural Philosophy
37
RAPHAEL FALK / The Manifest and the Scientific
57