Voronina, O. A. The Role of Gender Metaphors in the Philosophical Perception of the Reality

Abstract: The article is devoted to the usage of metaphors in philosophical texts. It is shown that apart from cognitive function, metaphor also has the modeling function: it does not only form the perception, but also indicates the manner and type of thinking. Special role is given to the basic metaphors which make a comparison between different systems of concepts and frame the subject of the discourse. Such metaphors include sex/gender metaphors. Ever since the Ancient world sex description have been used by the philosophers to describe and understand the reality. The idea that the ‘rational’ beginning was somehow connected with the masculinity was introduced by the ‘founding fathers’ long ago. If we include the male and female in the system of world perception as ontological formations, it will completely change the primary natural and biological meaning of gender. The ‘gender’ metaphor is viewed as one of the bases for a traditional Western type of rationality and as a factor which forms the culture.

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