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"Meaning-Making" in Language and Biology
- Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 48, Number 3, Summer 2005
- pp. 317-327
- 10.1353/pbm.2005.0076
- Article
- Additional Information
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The linguistic metaphor in biology adheres to a representational theory that seeks similarities between pre-given domains. The point of departure of this paper is the generative and nonrepresentational conception of metaphor. This paper argues that by adopting the nonrepresentational conception of metaphor, meaning-making may be the appropriate perspective for understanding biological systems. In both cases (the linguistic and the biological), boundary conditions between different levels of organization use micro-level disorganization to create macro-level organization.