Metaphors and Isophors

A metaphor is an evocation of similarities between one domain and another that may enable us to see configurations in the new domain that hitherto were invisible to us. Metaphors further serve as navigation between domains, as ways of seeing some of the congruences that arise as part of how we ourselves live. Metaphors, whether used to explain, or used poetically, serve to enrich our lives. –– Domains Co-arise With Distinctions page

​The etymology of metaphor is from the root meta or “accross” and pherein “to carry.” The root meaning of iso is “equal” or “equivalent”, as in isobar, or an isoceles triangle. Thus an isophor means to carry something equivalent from one domain to another.

​The word Isophor was invented by Maturana in a conversation with Kathleen Forsythe when she was presenting a paper with a title something like “Cathedrals of the Mind”. An isophor needs to be specific in what sense that which is carried from one domain to the other is “equivalent”.

​Since distinctions are not readily equivalent, or if they are, there is no need for carrying (e.g. a cup is a cup, whether we’re talking about dishes, or drinking a cup of tea). Thus I have taken to using the word Isophor when the equivalency refers to a process of the same form, or dynamic, that can be seen to operate in another domain, where it results in a configuration of the same type, but as appropriate in the new domain.

<= What IS a Domain?

=> Cathedrals in the Mind

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