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Lakoff:
Arguments and wars are different kinds of things--verbal discourse and armed conflict--and the actions performed are different kinds of actions. But ARGUMENT is partially structured, understood, performed, and talked about in terms of WAR. The concept is metaphorically structured, the activity is metaphorically structured, and, consequently, the language is metaphorically structured.

But really they're not, because they both share the metaphor of territoriality and domination.

Semantic territory and dominance are as important as physical territory and dominance. In fact you can't hope to win or own physical territory unless you have semantic and intellectual dominance over a significant population - who are then magically persuaded to wage a physical war for you.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Aug 28th, 2009 at 05:19:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
who are then magically persuaded to wage a physical war for you.

Or who are thereby marginalized and rendered manipulable or disposable by you.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Aug 28th, 2009 at 05:41:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
or, strangest of all, both!

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Aug 30th, 2009 at 08:45:08 AM EST
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It seems they are more related than by metaphore... read propaganda and discussion of economic ideals...

the best way toc onquer terrirtry if , for example, you are a big company aiming for a particular oil field in the middle of Nigeria is to win the argument about the dangerous rebels who attack your facilities.. in front of the argument about peasants trying to defend their land from contamination..

At the end.. it is all a war... even in cases of physical and teritorial disputes... at the end it is about winning the war.. symbolically, of course...

Only after winning the argument you can do whatever you want with no fear of cosnequences..

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Fri Aug 28th, 2009 at 07:51:31 PM EST
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