Introduction
UC-Berkeley Linguistics Professor George Lakoff discusses how idea framing and metaphors contribute to shaping the way we think. UC Berkeley Professor George Lakoff discusses concepts from his new book, The Political Mind: Why You Can’t Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain. George P. Lakoff is a professor of linguistics (in particular, cognitive linguistics) at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972. Although some of his research involves questions traditionally pursued by linguists, such as the conditions under which a certain linguistic construction is grammatically viable, he is most famous for his ideas about the centrality of metaphor to human thinking, political behavior and society. He is particularly famous for his concept of the “embodied mind” which he has written about in relation to mathematics. In recent years he has applied his work to the realm of politics, and founded a progressive think tank, the Rockridge Institute. Joe Epstein is the former President of The Commonwealth Club’s Board of Governor.
