Computation for Metaphors, Analogy and Agents

Abstract

As an introduction to papers in this book we review the notion of metaphor in language, and of metaphor as conceptual, and as primary to understanding. Yet the view of metaphor here is more general. We propose a constructive view of metaphor as mapping or synthesis of meaning between domains, which need not be conceptual ones. These considerations have implications for artificial intelligence (AI), human-computer interaction (HCI), algebraic structure-preservation, constructive biology, and agent design. In this larger setting for metaphor, contributions of the selected papers are overviewed and key aspects of computation for metaphors, analogy and agents highlighted.