The Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics / editor-in-chief Keith Brown.

Boston, MA : Elsevier, 2006. 2nd edition. ISBN 9780080448541

66 Metaphors, Grammatical

I
I
Metaphors, Grammatical
D Rose, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
© 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Grammatical metaphor is a semiotic process first
described in Halliday (1985/1994). It is a set of strat-
egies for expanding the range of meanings available
to speakers and writers that involves transference of a
semantic function from the grammatical class that
most typically realizes it to a class that typically rea-
lizes a different type of meaning. Halliday suggested
that grammatical metaphor is a feature of all adult
discourse. This may hold for all languages as well,
because it is found in languages as diverse as English
and Indigenous Australian languages. However, certain
types of grammatical metaphor have become a major
feature of written discourse in modern institutions,
such as science, academia, and bureaucracy (Halliday
and Martin, 1993; Martin and Veel, 1998), and present
a serious challenge for many learners.
Halliday (1994: 340-341) first discussed three
familiar types of 'rhetorical transference': 'metaphor,'
in which a "word is used for something resembling
that which it usually refers to"; 'metonymy,' in which
a "word is used for something related to that which it
usually refers to"; and 'synecdoche,' in which a "word
is used for some larger whole of which that which
it refers to is a part." Halliday gave the following
examples of these types of transference:
metaphor A flood of protests [flood exemplifies a
poured in large quantity]
metonymy Keep your eye on [eye directs the gaze]
the ball
synecdoche Let's go and have la bite is part of eating
a bite a meal]
The term metaphor is also used as a general label for
these types of verbal transference. A common view of
metaphor is a transference in the usage of words.
However, Halliday proposed that we look at it first
from the perspective of meaning and ask "not 'how
is this word used?' but 'how is this meaning
expressed?'" This perspective derives from the sys-
temic functional model of language (SFL) as stratified
into three levels - of meaning, which is expressed as
wording, which is expressed as sounding or lettering.
More technically, discourse semantics is realized as
lexicogrammar, which is realized as phonology
(where the level of wording includes lexis and gram-
mar as a unified system). This strata! model of lan-
guage is diagrammed in Figure 1.
This approach privileges discourse semantic func-
tions as a starting point for analysis of grammatical
patterns rather than merely the forms of words and
sentences. Therefore, from a perspective 'below,' of
lexis alone, flood literally means 'a moving mass of
water' and can be used metaphorically as 'a moving
mass of feeling or rhetoric'; however, from the per-
spective 'above,' of discourse semantics, the meaning
'many people [protested]' may be expressed more
congruently as a large number [of protests] or more
metaphorically as a flood [of protests].
Here, Halliday introduced the term 'congruent' in
place of 'literal' to denote a less metaphorical variant.
Semantically speaking, a large number is a more con-
gruent expression of the meaning 'many,' whereas a
flood is a more metaphorical expression. This sup-
poses a model of congruence between meaning and
wording that lies at the heart of systemic functional
theory (i.e., that certain types of wording have
evolved to realize certain types of meaning). For ex-
ample, the nominal group many people realizes the
general semantic categories of 'person' and 'quantity,'
whereas the verb protested realizes the semantic cat-
egory 'process.' More specifically, 'person' is realized
by the noun people and 'quantity' by the adjective
many. These are all examples of congruence between
meaning and wording: 'people' and 'things' realized
as nouns, 'qualities' and 'quantities' as adjectives, and
'processes' as verbs.
There is a sense in which congruent expressions are
prior to metaphorical ones on two timescales: the
evolution of the language, or 'phytogenesis,' and the
development of the speaker, or 'ontogenesis.' Not
only in English but also probably in the spoken
modes of all languages, the semantic configuration
'person' + 'quantity' + 'process' is congruently rea-
lized by the grammatical structure of a clause consist-
ing, for example, of a nominal group with noun and
Figure 1 Stratal model of language.

adjective many people and a verb or verbal group
protested. In terms of phytogenesis, this is a pattern
that evolved initially in the spoken mode and appears
to be common across languages and registers, where-
as metaphorical variants have evolved more recently
and may vary widely within and between languages.
For example, the meaning 'quantity' may now be
realized by a nominal group such as a large number,
and the meaning 'process' may be realized by a noun
such as protests. In a further step, the semantic figure
'person' + 'quantity' + 'process' can then be realized
as a single nominal group a large number of protests,
in which the people doing the protesting have disap-
peared. This metaphorical 'thing' can then participate
in another process, such as a large number of protests
came in.
Such a reconstrual of 'person'+ 'quantity'+ 'pro-
cess' as though it were 'quantity'+ 'thing' forms the
semantic basis for the more metaphorical expression
A flood of protests poured in, which has the effect
of intensifying the quantity by means of the lexical
items flood+ poured. The metaphor is thus both lex-
ical and grammatical: A semantic configuration that
is more congruently realized by a clause structure
many people protested is realized more metaphori-
cally by a nominal group a large number of protests,
and its elements that are more congruently realized by
one lexical item a large number are realized more
metaphorically by another lexical item a flood.
For several reasons, these kinds of metaphorical
expression have evolved in recent centuries in the
written mode of languages such as English, where
they are now common. In particular, they open up
the potential for expanding meanings available to
writers and speakers, and they enable us to more
flexibly manipulate the structures of written dis-
course. They are less often found in the languages of
more stable cultures that have not evolved a written
mode, such as Indigenous Australian languages (Rose,
2001). This does not imply any valuing of written
over oral cultures, but it is a very important point to
recognize for both cultural studies and language edu-
cation. In the ontogenesis of English speakers, such
metaphorical expressions appear as learners engage
with the written mode, typically in later years of
primary school (Derewianka, 2004). However, for
learners from oral cultural backgrounds, they can
present a major barrier for understanding and using
written discourse since they reconstrue ordinary peo-
ple and things acting in the world as relations between
abstract entities (Martin, 1991; Rose, 1997, 1998).
On the other hand, grammatical metaphor is a
feature of all adult discourse, but most commonly
in its interpersonal guise. Halliday distinguished
types of grammatical metaphor most generally as
Metaphors, Grammatical 67
metaphors of 'mood' and 'modality' and metaphors
of 'transitivity': the first expands the potential of
language for interpersonal meanings, and the latter
expands its potential for ideational meanings. These
categories arise from the recognition in systemic func-
tional theory of distinct 'metafunctions': to enact
speakers' social relations (interpersonal metafunc-
tion) and to represent their experience (ideational
metafunction). A third textual metafunction is to or-
ganize the interpersonal and ideational as discourse
that is meaningful in context. Metafunctions are
mapped on to the stratal model in Figure 2.
The following sections first outline interpersonal
metaphors of mood and modality, followed by idea-
tional metaphors of transitivity and conjunction.
Interpersonal Metaphor
Interpersonal metaphors expand the potential of
a language for negotiating social relations by
manipulating the congruent realizations of discourse
semantic systems of exchange and appraisal. These
discourse systems are realized in the grammatical
systems of mood and modality, respectively.
Metaphors of Mood
Exchange systems enable speakers to demand and give
either information or goods-and-services, most gener-
ally through the speech functions of question and
statement (propositions) or command and offer (pro-
posals). These speech functions are realized in the
grammatical systems of mood as interrogative, declar-
ative, or imperative clauses, exemplified in Table 1.
Thus, each of these speech functions has a congru-
ent realization as one or another mood type. Since
they frequently occur nonsemiotically by simply
performing an act, offers of goods-and-services have
Figure 2 Metafunctions and language strata.
68 Metaphors, Grammatical

Table 1 Speech functions and mood Each modality type is realized congruently in the
Speech function Mood
English verbal group as modal auxiliary verbs
('must,' 'should,' 'might,' etc.) or modal adverbs
Question Do you have a blanket? Interrogative ('certainly,' 'probably,' 'possibly,' etc.), but their po-
Statement I have a blanket. Declarative tential is expanded by employing other regions of
Command Give me your blanket! Imperative
the language system. Modality can be made explic-
itly subjective using mental projections, or explicitly
objective using projected facts, as follows:
no particular congruent realization but may be ver-
balized by any mood type; for example, [interroga- Explicitly subjective
tive] Would you like my blanket? [declarative] Here's do it positive
a blanket, or [imperative] Have my blanket!
Now direct commands often imply, either an asym-
metry of status in a relationship or a close relation-
ship, and such implications may not be desirable in a
I insist you do it
I want you to do it
I'd like you to do it
don't do it negative
I
relationship in which status and contact require more Explicitly objective
delicate negotiation. For these reasons, adult speakers
do it positive

often use metaphors of mood to negotiate such
exchanges, with interrogative or declarative clauses
in place of imperative; for example,
I would like a blanket.
May I have a blanket?
Would you mind if I had a blanket?
A blanket would be nice.
Such mood metaphors modulate obligation by recon-
struing a demand for goods-and-services as though
it were an exchange of information. They also enable
obligation to be delicately graded from direct impera-
tives through modulated declaratives to appar-
ently neutral statements or question, considerably
expanding the potential for negotiating exchanges.
Metaphors of Modality
Halliday (1994: 354-363) described two general
kinds of modality, one for negotiating services and
the other for negotiating information. Demands for
a service can be negotiated as follows:
do it positive
I
you are required to do it
you are supposed to do it
you are allowed to do it
don't do it negative
These metaphors of modality explicitly locate the
source of obligation with the speaker (subjective) or
away from the speaker (objective), opening up the po-
tential for negotiating status and contact. This is a very
large region of English grammar, which Halliday out-
lined and argued at length. Other languages have
comparable systems of mood and modality (Caffarel
et al., 2004 ), although they may be realized in different
ways. For example, the Australian language Pitjantjat-
jara grades degrees of obligation within the imperative
mood system rather than as a separate system of mo-
dality. Nevertheless, it uses metaphors of mood and
modality for similar interpersonal functions, as does
English, as follows (from Rose, 2001):
Congruent command (imperative mood)
walangku watja-la
quickly tell-IMP

I
Quickly tell me!
you must do it
you should do it Explicitly subjective (mental projection)
you could do it rx ngayulu mukuri-nganyi f3 anku-ntjikitja
don't do it negative I desire-PRES go-to
I want to go.
On this scale we can say 'how obliged' you are to act.
Explicitly objective (relational clause)
Statements that give information can be negotiated as
nyuntu kunyu anku-ntjaku ngara-ng1
follows:
you it's.said go-to stand-PAST
it is positive You, its said, were expected to go.
it
it
it
it
must be
should be
might be
isn't negative
I Metaphors of mood are also equally common. The
following dialogue begins with an interrogative meta-
phor for a proposal ('Give me a blanket!'). The listener
reads the grammar congruently and simply answers
On this scale we can say ''how probable' a statement with information (lb). He is surprised when the pro-
is. At each pole of these scales of modality is the posal is re-expressed as a direct imperative (2a) so that
choice of positive or negative polarity. the demander offers to rephrase the request (3a):
 Metaphors, Grammatical 69

(la) katja // nyuntu blanketa kutjupa kanyi-ni It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
son you blanket another have-PRES We even spoke about marriage.
Son, do you have another blanket? Then one day he said he was going on a 'trip.'
(lb) uwa ngan-ny1 nyara
yes lie-PRES yonder Just as the grammatical class 'clause' realizes the
Yes, it's over there. semantic function 'figure,' so the grammatical class
'verb' is the typical expression of the semantic func-
(2a) uwa -m
tion 'process,' and the class 'noun' typically expresses
give-IMP me
Give it to me!
the meaning of 'thing.' However, particularly in writ-
(2b) munta ten modes of discourse, the meaning of 'process' is
sorry often re-expressed as a noun so that, for example,
Sorry? someone 'acting' becomes 'an action.' This does not
simply replace one grammatical class with another
(3a) wiya nyuntu-mpa // nyanga-ngka -na
no your-s this-at but has the effect of reconstruing an everyday activity
tjapi-ni piruku as though it were an abstract thing, thus creating
ask-PRES again two layers of meaning, as in metaphors in general.
No it's yours. I'll ask this again Such nominalizations are the most common type of
ideational metaphor.
This exchange shows the tension in grammatical
From the perspective of discourse semantics, idea-
metaphor between the meaning of the grammati-
tional metaphor involves a transference of meaning
cal structure and the discourse function it realizes
from an element that congruently realizes it to anoth-
metaphorically. Both levels of meaning inhere in the
er kind. For example, the process of two people
metaphor, and it is the tension between them that
marrying can also be treated as a quality, a married
expands the meaning potential.
man, and as a thing, a good marriage. This kind of
Ideational Metaphor meaning transference seems so natural that it hardly
comes to our attention, except when it becomes diffi-
Ideational metaphors expand the potential of a lan- cult to read in abstract written discourse, especially
guage for construing experience by manipulating the for readers who are unfamiliar with dense ideational
congruent realizations of discourse semantic systems metaphor. In modern written languages it is a power-
of ideation and conjunction. These discourse systems ful resource for expanding the set of meanings avail-
are realized in the grammatical systems of transitivity able for speakers and writers. Its development in
and complexity, respectively. English has accelerated during the past few centuries
In languages throughout the world, human experi- to enable expansion of the discourses of the sciences,
ence seems to be congruently construed as sequences humanities, and bureaucracies that accompanied
of activities involving people and things, processes, Europe's industrialization and colonial expansions.
places, times, and qualities (Caffarel et al., 2004; In general, the drift in meaning, by means of idea-
Rose, 2004). Each activity is typically realized by tional metaphor, has been from reality as processes
the grammatical structure of a clause, and the other involving people and concrete things to reality as
elements are realized by groups of words within the relations between abstract things (Halliday, 1998),
clause; for example (Tutu, 1999), as with the transference from marrying as process to
As an eighteen met a young man in
marriage as thing. Part of the reason for this shift has
year old his twenties to do with the greater potential for expanding the
time person process person meaning of things- numbering, describing, classify-
ing, and qualifying them. For example, the process of
Each clause involves three kinds of elements: marrying can be expanded with another process, such
1. A process as marrying to forget, or a quality, such as marrying
2. People and things that participate in the process well. However, marriage as a thing can be expanded
3. Circumstances that are associated with it in some with a whole series of potentially evaluative quali-
way, such as time, place, manner, and so on. ties, classes, and qualifiers, as in an extremely short
marriage to someone else.
We can call this arrangement of process, partici- These are ideational metaphors of the experiential
pants, and circumstances a 'figure' (after Halliday type (i.e., they are concerned with elements of fig-
and Matthiessen, 1999; Martin and Rose, 2003 ). ures). Ideational metaphors of the logical type are
Figures are linked into activity sequences by con- concerned with reconstruing a conjunction between
junctive relations, which are congruently realized by figures as if it were a process or thing.
conjunctions; for example,
70 Metaphors, Grammatical

Experiential Metaphor violate grossly a gross violation

expose publicly public exposure
There are two general types of experiential metaphor: torture regular! y regular torturers
metaphors that reconstrue a process or quality as if it
were a thing and metaphors that reconstrue a process, Abstract Things Abstract concepts such as amnesty
or a quality of a process, as if it were a quality of a and justice make up institutional fields such as
thing. law, government, education, and so forth. They
often refer to a large set of activities, and it may not
Processes and Qualities as Things One major ad- be possible to unpack them into figures. However,
vantage of presenting other elements as entities some can be unpacked; for example, a gross violation
is that things can be described, classified, and quali- of human rights - defined as an abduction, killing,
fied in ways not available to other elements. This is torture, or severe ill-treatment. These are processes
illustrated in the following examples: construed as things in order to be classified as gross
violations. The whole figure may be unpacked as
process --~ thing
begin the beginning
follows:
relate a beautiful relationship (a perpetrator) grossly violates human rights
marry an extremely short marriage (if he) abducts, kills, tortures, or severely ill-treats
travel a trip (a victim)
desiring only one desire
reconcile reconciliation In this example, a thing, violation, and its quality,
apply all the important applications gross, have been unpacked to a process, violates,
violate a gross violation and its quality, grossly, that also includes a 'perpetra-
mtscarry a miscarriage of justice tor.' Also, the things abduction, killing, torture, or
penalize (punish) the penalty (punishment) severe ill-treatment have been unpacked to actions
expose and public exposure and
that also include a 'victim,' as follows:
humiliate humiliation
perpetrate the perpetrator (a perpetrator) grossly violates human rights
torturing torturers person quality process thing
quality --7
eighteen years old
twenty
thing
an eighteen-year-old
his twenties a gross violation
// of human rights
secure security quality thing qualifier
painful and bitter the pain and bitterness in me
true truth if (he) abducts, kills, (a victim)
just justice tortures,
honest/just ... integrity or severely ill-treats
person process person
As things, such metaphorical expressions can be-
come participants in processes (e.g., he had only one
desire) and parts of circumstances (e.g., after my defined an abduction, killing, torture, or
unsuccessful marriage). as severe ill-treatment
process thing
Processes and Their Qualities as Qualities of Things
Processes and qualities of processes can be recon- How far we go in unpacking ideational metaphor
strued as qualities of things. depends on our needs. For example, we could go
further to analyze the abstraction human rights, but
process ~ quality of thing this would require a lot more definition.
secunng a top security structure
bubbling, living a bubbly, vivacious man Things and People as Parts of Activities-as-Things
envymg an enviable relationship When processes are reconstrued as things, the people
openmg open session
that participate in the processes are often left out,
respecting respectable members
regulate regular torturers
which is one reason why abstract written discourse
quality of process ~ quality of thing sometimes seems so alien to our everyday experience
operating overseas operations of things going on around us. However, participants
overseas can be included when processes are reconstrued as
relate beautifully a beautiful relationship things by presenting them as parts of activities-as-
marry very briefly an extremely short marriage things as possessions.
 Metaphors, Grammatical 71

Helena got Helena's ___, the marriage of However, the logical metaphor of 'relation as pro-
married marriage Helena and her lover cess' incorporates more than simply consequence.
victims were victims' compensation for First, the probability of the result is graded as likely
. .......... ..
compensated compensatiOn VICtims
to lead (in contrast to high probability will certainly
In the following example, the processes of 'ex- lead or low probability will possibly lead). Second,
posing' and 'humiliating' become things that qualify the necessity of the consequence is also graded lexi-
the penalty and are themselves qualified by their cally as lead to (in contrast to the stronger result in
participant, the perpetrator: or weaker associated with).
Therefore, one of the reasons why writers use logi-
the IS by publicly exposing him
perpetrator penalized and humiliating cal metaphors for conjunctions is that they can grade
person process 1 linker process 2 person their evaluation of relations between events or argu-
/ ments. This is a crucial resource for reasoning in
? fields such as science or politics, in which it is im-
the penalty of public exposure for the perpetrator
and humiliation portant not to overstate causal relations until suffi-
thing qualifier qualifier cient evidence has been accumulated. This function of
logical metaphors is oriented to engagement of the
Ideational metaphor tends to reconstrue our expe-
reader.
rience of reality as if it consisted of relations between
On the other hand, logical metaphors combine
institutional abstractions. These strategies have
with experiential metaphors to package activity
evolved to enable writers to generalize about social
sequences as manageable chunks of information.
processes and to describe, classify, and evaluate them.
This function of logical metaphors is oriented to pe-
One cost is that it may be difficult to recover who is
riodicity. For example, this figure is one step in the
doing what to whom; another is that this type of
argument that Tutu is advancing:
discourse can be very difficult to read and under-
stand. Unpacking ideational metaphors as shown The Act required that the application should be dealt
here can help to reveal how they construe reality with in a public hearing
and is one key strategy for teaching language learners unless such a hearing was likely to lead to a
how they work. miscarriage of justice
(for instance, where witnesses were too intimidated
Logical Metaphor to testify in open session).
Logical metaphor reconstrues logical relations be- In this sequence, a passive clause is used to start the
tween processes as if they were relations between message with the application and end with a public
elements within processes. Logical metaphor always hearing. The public hearing is then the starting point
involves experiential metaphor as well. for the next message (such a hearing), which ends
with a miscarriage of justice. This is what is exempli-
Conjunction as Process A common motif in abstract fied in the next step. This sequencing of information
or technical writing is to present a consequential con- is shown as follows:
junction as a process:
The Act required that the application should be dealt
such a is likely to to a miscarriage of with in a public hearing
hearing
participant
lead
process
justice
circumstance (place) /
unless such a hearing was likely to lead to a
This strategy compresses a sequence of two activ- miscarriage of justice
ities into a single figure by means of experiential and
logical metaphors. Experientially, the participant
and circumstance represent activities ('hearing an ap-
/
(for instance, where witnesses were too intimidated
plication' and 'miscarrying justice') that are recon- to testify in open session).
strued as things (a hearing and a miscarriage).
The logical metaphor (is likely to lead) enables
Logically, there is a relation of consequence between
the sequence of cause (such a hearing) and effect (a
these activities ('if ... then'), which is reconstrued as
miscarriage of justice) to be packaged as chunks of
a process (is likely to lead). We can unpack such
information within a single message.
as sequence as a sequence of two figures related by
conjunctions: Conjunction as Circumstance Another common
if such a hearing happens motif in abstract or technical writing is to present a
then justice will be miscarried. logical relation as a circumstance:
72 Metaphors, Grammatical

Is amnesty being given at the cost of justice Condition

being done? The only conditions for gaining amnesty were:
The act for which amnesty was required should
participant process circumstance
have happened between 1960 ... and 1994
(accompaniment)
The act must have been politically motivated .. .
The logical meaning of at the cost of is concessive The applicant had to make a full disclosure .. .
purpose ('without'), giving the following sequence: The rubric of proportionality had to be observed ...
Amnesty is gained:
Is amnesty being given if the act happened between 1960 and 1994
without justice not being done? if the act was politically motivated
if applicant made a full disclosure
Again, this strategy enables a sequence of two activ-
if the rubric of proportionality was observed
ities to be packaged as a single figure, with amnesty as
one chunk of information and the circumstance as In each case, the logical metaphor allows other mean-
another. However, Tutu's rhetorical strategy here ings to be incorporated. Logical metaphor enables
also includes other layers - the lexical metaphor at 'logical things' to be numbered, described, classified,
the cost of implies a balance sheet, in which income and qualified:
(amnesty) is weighed against expenditure (justice). So
the very first time
reconstruing a sequence using this metaphor adds one reason
layers of meaning to the question. only a means
the only conditions ... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4
Conjunctions as Things and Qualities Conjunction
can also be reconstrued as a thing or quality. The On the other hand, reconstruing conjunction as qua-
following are examples of conjunction as a thing: lities means they can be used to modify things or
processes:
conjunction ----7 thing
before the first time conjunction quality of thing or process
then sequel so resulting action
so reason, result, consequence by enabling action
thus conclusion in fact actual size
by a means to thus conclusively proven
if condition then subsequently shown
before previously regarded
The following are examples of these conjunction-as- if conditionally approved
things in discourse, and their alternative realization as
Here is an example of 'conjunction-as-quality':
a sequence:
Many of those in the security forces who have come
Time forward had previously been regarded as
Many of those in the security forces who have respectable members of their communities.
come forward had previously been regarded as
respectable members of their communities. This could be unpacked as follows:
It was often the very first time that their Many of those in the security forces who have come
communities and even sometimes their families forward were regarded as respectable members of
heard ... their communities before they came forward.
Before they came forward
their communities and even sometimes their How much we choose to unpack ideational meta-
families had not heard ... phors in discourse analysis will depend on our pur-
Consequence poses. We have seen two advantages of unpacking
Conjunctions have an important role in letting us experiential and logical metaphors. One is that by
know what to expect at each step of a discourse. paraphrasing highly metaphorical discourse in a
This is one reason they tend to come at or near the more spoken form, we can show learners how it
start of each sentence in English. means what it does and also design curriculum that
Conjunctions let us know what to expect
leads from more spoken to more written modes. An-
so they tend to come at or near the start of each
sentence in English. other is that we can recover participant roles and
Means logical arguments that tend to be rendered implicit
Amnesty didn't matter. by ideational metaphor. This can be a powerful tool
It was only a means to the truth. for critical discourse analysis, revealing implicit nu-
The truth would come out clear relations, such as agency and effect, and implicit
by amnesty being given. logical relations, such as cause and effect.
 Metaphysics, Substitution Salva Veritate and the Slingshot Argument
See also: Aristotle and the Stoics on Language; Discourse
Semantics; Ideational Theories of Meaning; Metaphor
and Conceptual Blending; Metaphor: Philosophical The-
ories; Metaphor: Psychological Aspects; Metaphor: Sty-
listic Approaches; Metaphors in English, French, and
Spanish Medical Written Discourse; Metaphors in Politi-
cal Discourse; Mood and Modality in Grammar; Nomina-
lization; Speech; Grammaticalization; Systemic Theory;
Word Classes/Parts of Speech: Overview.
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II Metaphysics, Substitution Salva Veritate and the Slingshot
Argument
R Stainton, University of Western Ontario,
I London, ON, Canada
I © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Metaphysics and Language: Facts,
Propositions and 'MCT Operators'
There are lots of examples of metaphysical conclu-
sions being drawn on the basis of linguistic phenome-
na. Philosophers have tried to prove the metaphysical
conclusion that a benevolent all-powerful God exists
on the basis of claims about what 'God' means.
Others have looked at tense in language and drawn
conclusions about the metaphysics of time. This arti-
cle presents a more technical kind of linguistically
based argument, about the metaphysics of facts,
propositions and modal/causal/temporal properties-
an argument whose claims are especially important in
the present context because of their implications for
linguistic semantics.
The article is structured as follows. In this section,
I first introduce two key metaphysical views: about facts
and about factlike propositions. I then introduce, also in
73
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this section, some seemingly plausible hypotheses about
modality, causation, and temporal order. These are the
metaphysical views which will be attacked on linguistic
grounds. In the next section I explain what substitutiv-
ity principles are, and survey three different kinds of
substitutivity and nonsubstitutivity. Such principles
clarify the linguistic phenomena that will be used to
attack the metaphysical views. The first two sections
essentially introduce crucial background material for
the argument. In the third section, I then describe the
modest means deployed in attacking the metaphysical
targets: the slingshot argument. I end by noting some
standard replies to this language-based argument.
I begin with facts. It seems natural enough to think of
the world as not being exhausted by the objects in it.
That is, to list all the objects in the world is not to say all
there is to say about it: one also wants to know what
properties the objects have, and what relations they
stand in, etc. And to say all that, is seemingly to de-
scribe facts. It's also tempting to think that facts consist
of complexes of ordinary, everyday objects, properties,
relations, etc.; to invent a label, it is tempting to think
that facts are 'world bound.' The first view that the