In The Rule of Metaphor, Paul Ricoeur develops one of his most influential contributions to hermeneutics and philosophy of language: the theory of living metaphor. The book engages philosophy, linguistics, and literary theory to show how metaphor is not simply a decorative device but a fundamental way of creating new meaning.
Ricoeur’s central aim is to demonstrate that metaphor is an event of thought, not just a matter of words. Through metaphor, language rediscovers its creative capacity to redescribe reality. This work lays the foundation for later developments in Ricoeur’s thought, especially regarding narrative identity and the surplus of meaning.
Key Themes
1. The Rule of Metaphor vs. Substitution Theory
Traditional rhetoric treated metaphor as a mere substitution of one word for another (e.g., “Achilles is a lion” means “Achilles is brave”). Ricoeur challenges this view, arguing that metaphor is not a replacement but a semantic innovation: it generates new meaning by putting words into tension.
2. Metaphor as Semantic Innovation
For Ricoeur, metaphor works by creating a semantic clash. When two domains of meaning (e.g., human bravery and animal ferocity) collide, they produce an emergent sense that did not exist before. This process shows that language is not static but a productive activity capable of inventing new ways of seeing.
3. The Living Metaphor
Ricoeur distinguishes between dead metaphors (fossilized, conventional expressions like “the foot of the mountain”) and living metaphors, where meaning is still dynamic and generative. Living metaphors bring about a re-description of reality, enlarging both imagination and understanding.
4. The Surplus of Meaning
Metaphors produce a surplus of meaning—a richness that cannot be reduced to literal paraphrase. Each interpretation opens further possibilities, ensuring that the meaning of a metaphor is never exhausted. This insight ties into Ricoeur’s broader hermeneutical principle that texts and symbols always exceed any one interpretation.
5. From Word to Discourse
Ricoeur insists that metaphor must be studied not only at the level of isolated words but at the level of discourse. A metaphor within a poem, narrative, or philosophical text reshapes the horizon of the whole discourse. Thus, metaphor is as much about world-making as about wordplay.
6. Metaphor, Imagination, and Reality
Living metaphors engage the imagination, projecting new possibilities for understanding reality. They “redescribe the world” by suggesting ways of seeing that go beyond ordinary categories. For Ricoeur, this is not merely a literary effect but an epistemological function: metaphors expand knowledge and insight.
7. The Rule of Metaphor as Hermeneutics
Ultimately, The Rule of Metaphor extends hermeneutics into the field of language and literature. Interpretation becomes the act of following how metaphors unfold meaning, how they open up new horizons, and how they transform both texts and readers.
The Significance of The Rule of Metaphor
With The Rule of Metaphor, Ricoeur shows that metaphor is a creative act of thought, not a linguistic ornament. Metaphors do not simply describe reality—they re-describe it, offering new perspectives that reshape imagination, understanding, and even philosophy itself.
This book remains a cornerstone in the philosophy of language, poetics, and hermeneutics, linking Ricoeur’s earlier work on symbols with his later work on narrative and identity.
Other Books by Ricoeur:
