Metaphors We Die By: George Lakoff’s “Metaphors Of Terror”

Abstract

George Lakoff’s response to September 11, “Metaphors of Terror,” first appeared in the on-line magazine In These Times of October 29, 2001. In it he introduces himself as a “metaphor analyst”; yet his metaphor analysis has only minimal bearing on his primary objective, which is to influence policy. He expresses legitimate concerns over the Bush administration’s almost exclusive focus on military action rather than on addressing the “culture of despair that leaves people vulnerable to the idea of martyrdom,” and over its lack of compunction about curtailing individual liberties. On the other hand, he tends to be cavalier about the immediate external dangers that September 11 made apparent. For instance, he points out that “most security experts say that there is no sure way to keep terrorists out,” as though this were an all-or-nothing proposition.