I argue for the possibility of the thesis that metaphors are indispensable for grasping and expressing certain propositions. I defend this possibility against the objection that, if metaphors express propositions, once these propositions are identified they should be specifiable by nonmetaphorical means. I argue that this objection loses its strength if one adopts a Wittgensteinian, particularist view of thought, according to which grasping a propositional thought requires the ongoing exercise of a suitable skill often not characterisable by algorithmic rules. Within this particularist framework, thus, it becomes possible that metaphorical skills have an indispensable role in cognition and communication.

中文翻译：

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隐喻不可或缺的辩护

我认为有这样一个论点，即隐喻对于掌握和表达某些命题是必不可少的。我反对这种可能性，反对这样的反对意见，即如果隐喻表达命题，则一旦确定了这些命题，就应通过非隐喻手段对其进行具体化。我认为，如果有人采用维特根斯坦主义的，特别主义的思想观点，那么这种反对就失去了力量，根据这种观点，掌握命题思想需要不断地运用一种通常不能由算法规则表征的适当技能。因此，在这个专家框架内，隐喻技能可能在认知和交流中起着不可或缺的作用。