Metaphors We Live By

By: George Lakoff, Mark Johnson

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

The now-classic Metaphors We Live By changed our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, authors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are "metaphors we live by"—metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them.

In this updated edition of Lakoff and Johnson's influential book, the authors supply an afterword surveying how their theory of metaphor has developed within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how we think and how we express our thoughts in language.

This audiobook is masterfully read by Sean Pratt, and was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Audio engineering by Matt Kulewicz, MPSE.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©1980 The University of Chicago (P)2025 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

Pratt's narration vitalizes Lakoff

This is my third Sean Pratt audiobook, after Infinite Jest and Surfaces and Essences. His when-appropriate staccato narration style is impeccably employed in this genre, and I'm excited to see him continue in that direction.

Do you know what a metaphor is?

George Lakoff wrote a brilliant book about understanding the use of language in politics. This is not related to that subject. This book simply explains what a metaphor is - over and over. That's the whole book. If you are unhappy with the dictionary definition, this will explain the same thing in a more elaborate way. No mention of politics, or the role of ideology in how we think. I can't think of anyone that would find this extremely obvious material useful