Power is a central concept in social theory and political discourse. Yet we use this word metaphorically all of the time. To speak of ‘the power of metaphor’ is to invoke a powerful metaphor. The same goes for soft power. Joseph Nye introduced this terminology more than a quarter of a century ago. Since then we find it everywhere: in scholarly discussions of power, in policy pronouncements, in newspaper stories. Searching ‘soft power’ on Google yields half a million results. Even if power were not obviously a metaphor, the addition of an adjective like soft instantly metaphoricizes it.

After reading and writing about metaphors for many years, I have come to the conclusion that every concept reveals itself to be a metaphor, but not the converse. Not every metaphor is a concept. Rather, I hold that every concept has its origin as a metaphor. I should say more about this general, perhaps surprising claim. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says that a metaphor is a ‘figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness’. We use figures of speech to represent some state of the world in such a way as to persuade others to adopt our representations.

Most people are empirical realists. They think that, by speaking, and thus through mutual persuasion, they succeed in representing the world more or less as it is. As a philosophical idealist (or if you prefer, anti-realist), I think otherwise. A metaphor represents some state of the world already constituted as such through the use of other, familiar metaphors. We collectively make the world what we individually say we see, what we take to be given. Merriam-Webster notwithstanding, no representation is ever ‘literal’.

Aristotle had important things to say about metaphors. To work effectively for persuasive purposes, they must be both fitting and fresh (Rhetoric III, 1410b13, 1410b32-33). An ill-fitting metaphor persuades no one, inspires no one to use it again for persuasive purposes, and changes nothing. A fitting metaphor oft repeated affirms and supports the world as given. A fresh metaphor gives something new to the world. Obviously, fit and freshness are closely related. In speaking persuasively, people pick up fresh metaphors and repeat them endlessly.