Towards a domain-independent computational framework for theory blending

Abstract

The literature on conceptual blending and metaphor-making has illustrations galore of how these mechanisms may support the creation and grounding of new concepts (or whole domains) in terms of a complex, integrated network of older ones. In spite of this, as of yet there is no general computational account of blending and metaphor-making that has proven powerful enough as to cover all the examples from the literature. This paper proposes a logic-based framework for blending and metaphor making and explores its applicability in settings as diverse as mathematical domain formation, classical rationality puzzles, and noun-noun combinations.