metaphorik.de 04/2003 - Bay / Döör / Steffensen, Modality, Ecology, Metaphor 30 Modality, Ecology, Metaphor 1 Dorte Bay / Jörgen Döör / Sune Vork Steffensen (norvork@hum.au.dk ) Abstract This essay presents an aspect of our way of dealing with the dialectical relationship between the two phenomena “Ecology” and “Metaphor”. For practical reason we limit our approach to a semantic dimension of the problematics. Our tradition regards metaphor and analogy both as conceptual activities and patterns as well as pre-conceptual and aconceptual capacities of mode of thinking, talking and acting. Section 1 introduces our concept of ecology, namely as a philosophy-science of and for a living universe, a conscious nature, and many intelligent realities. Our view of ecology offers a new scientific paradigm, because it implies a non-dualistic, non-reductionist, non-causal, and a-causal description of nature, society, and persons. Via a dialectical interpretation of Bell’s theorem we transfer these insights to the fields of communication and dialogue. Section 2 continues the exposition of our concept of a dialogue in a praxis. An implication of these concepts is the concept modality, i.e. our ways of relating to the praxis and the dialogue. We distinguish between a ground mood of modality and a particular mood of modality. The dialogical modality is actually an expression of the interference between persons’ and situations’ undercurrents, i.e. streams of consciousness with waves of feelings, cognitions, and volitions. Centrally in our theory of undercurrents stands the idea and reality of empathy. We discuss these concepts in relation to semantics, by formulating a new semantic matrix. Section 3 unfolds our conception of metaphor-analogy. Both imply transferences of similarities and differences in and between mental models. If the mental models belong to different categories, we term the transference metaphor; do they belong to the same category, we term it analogy. The former implies a novum in the mental transference, and from a survival point of view it works differently than the latter. Metaphor is involved when individualities, species and environments change qualitatively, analogy when they change quantitatively. We end our essay in Section 4 by formulating our preliminary conclusion and some invitations for further discussions. Der Artikel stellt einen Aspekt unseres Umgangs mit der dialektischen Beziehung zwischen den beiden Phänomenen "Ökologie" und "Metapher" heraus. Aus praktischen Gründen behandeln wir nur die semantische Dimension des Problemkreises. Unsere zugrundeliegende Theorie sieht die Metapher und die Analogie sowohl als konzeptuelle Vorgänge und Muster an, als auch als prä-konzeptuelle und a-konzeptuelle Fähigkeiten in Bezug auf das Denken, Sprechen und Handeln. Der erste Teil des Artikels stellt unsere Definition von Ökologie vor, als eine "Philosophie-Wissenschaft" von einem lebenden Universum, einer bewussten Natur und vielen intelligenten Wirklichkeiten. Unsere Auffassung der Ökologie bietet insofern ein neues wissenschaftliches Paradigma an, weil sie eine nicht-dualistische, nicht- 1 We thank Katrin Mutz and the rest of the editorial board on metaphorik.de for many helpful comments regarding this essay. This essay is written in the lingua franca of modern science, English. We support the existence of a common scientific language, and for the time being we consider English to be the best possibility for such a common language. But we disagree in any demand of “linguistic correctness”; on the contrary we consider it most necessary to develop a wider range of acceptability regarding “scientific English”. Instead of merely referring to British-English, American-English, Australian-English, etc., we also refer to Danish-English, Chinese-English, Zulu-English, etc. Only if these variants of English are acknowledged as acceptable on a par with British-English etc., can English develop into a scientific lingua franca of an open society (cf. Popper 1945). We trust that our Danish-English is communicable and comprehensible and we have chosen not to activate a mothertongued proof-reader.