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CRISTINA MARRAS: Metaphora translata voce. Prospettive metaforiche nella filosofia di G. W. Leibniz (= Lessico intellettuale europeo 108). Firenze: Leo S. Olschki 2010. IX, 183 pp., 22,00 euro.
This book, written by Cristina Marras (researcher at the Lessico Intellettuale Europeo, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma) investigates the role of metaphor in G. W. Leibniz's theory of language and in his philosophy as a whole. It is therefore not only an insightful research into one of Leibniz's most important sectors of interest, but an enquiry into the philosopher's "cognitive style". The book is composed of an introduction in which the philosophical-linguistic and the rhetorical components of Leibniz's use of metaphors are discussed; the introduction is then followed by a group of five chapters, each one of which focuses on a specific field of metaphors (1. The Ocean, metaphors on water and navigation; 2. The Path, metaphors of geography and travel; 3. The Mirror, optical and visual metaphors; 4. The Labyrinth, spatial and architectural metaphors, and 5. The Scale, mechanic and measurement metaphors); finally, in her concluding remarks Marras discusses by what degree elaboration of a metaphorical language may help to understand the general structure of Leibniz's thought.
Marras begins by discussing the status of metaphors from the theoreticallinguistic point of view. She rightly notices that Leibniz tends to sway between a rather traditional rhetoric use of metaphor (metaphor as inherent to the elocutio, therefore as a simple phenomenon of style), and an awareness of an important cognitive function of metaphor. If we keep in mind Leibniz's linguistic praxis, where metaphors contribute to the...