4. Analysis
4.2 The Metaphorical Structure of Moral Concepts
4.2.17 Doing Good
Before running the proposed test on the source domains already uncovered above, let us look, first, at the domain MERIT from which general terms of approval and disapproval, GOOD and BAD, emanate. This constituent is so obvious as to be trivial, but MERIT is indeed a constituent domain of, and not merely the same as, MORALITY, as MERIT has a much wider application which extends to things outside of the moral domain, such as ‘good food’ or ‘bad idea’.
Following the above principles, an analysis shows MERIT to be a superordinate domain to both MORALITY and CLEANLINESS, but not to VERTICAL ORIENTATION. It is, however, subordinate to, and understandable in terms of, VERTICAL ORIENTATION. MERIT is vertically oriented with GOOD as UP and BAD as DOWN. This metaphor has been known for some time (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) and has gathered much empirical support in recent years (Gottwald et al., 2015) supporting the hypothesis that the link to also be a well-entrenched and embodied one.Hence, it can be said to be a constituent of the multi-level mapping
MORALITY and sits as the second layer in the mapping: VERTICAL ORIENTATION → MERIT → CLEANLINESS
→ MORALITY. This analysis can be run on all other putative constituent source domains which were found through the prior CMT-based analysis above.
When analysing the next contender, BRIGHTNESS, it becomes apparent that it is indeed a constituent and sits within the hierarchy as follows: VERTICAL ORIENTATION → BRIGHTNESS
→ MERIT → CLEANLINESS → MORALITY.BRIGHTNESS is a subordinate domain to VERTICAL ORIENTATION as LIGHT and DARK can be understood in terms of UP and DOWN, respectively, and this is another very salient link due to its experiential grounding in the natural world. The sky above is, of course, our main source of natural light and all earthly organisms have evolved in this environment where light comes from above. Our bodies have been moulded by evolution, adapting to deal with such physical phenomena. Our brow shields us from overhead light and does not offer the same protection from low light sources, for example. This link is also observed in expressions such as ‘the darkness fell’, ‘we waited for nightfall’ and ‘the sky has brightened up’.
The next domain in the mapping, MERIT, is a subordinate to BRIGHTNESS: GOOD
IS LIGHT and BAD IS DARK (‘a bright future/dark past’, ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, ‘his reputation was tarnished’. BRIGHTNESS is also a superordinate of CLEANLINESS as is evidenced by such phrases as ‘it was clean and shiny’ and ‘his feet were black!’ such a link is also made salient and reinforced through experience. Thus, we find BRIGHTNESS situated in the mapping as follows: VERTICAL ORIENTATION → BRIGHTNESS → MERIT → CLEANLINESS → MORALITY.
When coming to the domain of FAIR TRANSACTION, it is difficult to see how it fits into the mapping. This may be to do with the fact that this metaphor, as already noted, is formulated at its most schematic and, therefore, includes many varied interactions. In order to make this domain ‘fit’ it could be construed as QUANTITY. This can be observed in the phrases ‘morally bankrupt’ and ‘moral values’. QUANTITY is understood in terms of VERTICAL
ORIENTATION and is a subordinate to BRIGHTNESS, as BRIGHTNESS is understood in terms of abundance of, or lack of, light. After reflection, it becomes clear that each other constituent domain of MORALITY also relates to QUANTITY. We find that QUANTITY is subordinate to VERTICAL
ORIENTATION with MORE as UP and LESS as DOWN and superordinate to BRIGHTNESS, MERIT, CLEANLINESS, and MORALITY, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Multi-layer Mapping of MORALITY (Six Levels with Positive Concepts) Level Domain Concept Metaphorical Mapping
Source VERT. ORIEN. UP (UP)
Second QUANTITY MORE (UP IS MORE)
Third BRIGHTNESS LIGHT (LIGHT IS MORE+UP)
Fourth MERIT GOOD (GOOD IS LIGHT+MORE+UP)
Fifth CLEANLINESS CLEAN (CLEAN IS GOOD+ LIGHT+MORE+UP)
Target MORALITY RIGHT (RIGHT IS
CLEAN+GOOD+LIGHT+MORE+UP)
As above, we can apply our analysis to the domain of EMOTION in order to find its place within the mapping for MORALITY. It is, as already noted, superordinate of
MORALITY as it is clearly evident in linguistic metaphors. CLEANLINESS, is understood in terms of
EMOTION as with ‘the floor was disgusting’ making EMOTION a superordinate of CLEANLINESS.
EMOTION is a subordinate to MERIT and VERTICAL ORIENTATION as it can be understood in terms of
MERIT as is evidenced by ‘I feel good/bad’, and VERTICAL ORIENTATION as shown by ‘feeling up/down’, meaning that EMOTION sits between CLEANLINESS and MERIT in the mapping, as shown in Table 3 and Table 4 which give multi-layer mappings and examples of both positive and negative concepts.
Table 3 Multi-layer Mapping of MORALITY (Eight Levels with Positive Concepts)
Level Domain Concept Metaphorical Mapping
Source VERT. UP (UP)
Second QUANTITY MORE (UP IS MORE) Third BRIGHTNESS LIGHT (LIGHT IS MORE+UP)
Fourth MERIT GOOD (GOOD IS LIGHT+MORE+UP)
Fifth EMOTION COMPASSION (COMPASSION IS GOOD+ LIGHT+MORE+UP)
Sixth CLEANLINESS CLEAN (CLEAN IS COMPASSION+GOOD+LIGHT+MORE+UP)
Target MORALITY RIGHT (RIGHT IS CLEAN+COMPASSION+GOOD+LIGHT+MORE+UP)
Next Level HOLINESS HOLY (HOLY IS
RIGHT+CLEAN+COMPASSION+GOOD+LIGHT+MORE+UP)
Table 4 Multi-layer Mapping of MORALITY (Eight Levels with Negative Concepts) Level Domain Concept Metaphorical Mapping
Source VERT. DOWN (DOWN)
Second QUANTITY LESS (DOWN IS LESS) Third BRIGHTNESS DARK (DARK IS LESS+DOWN) Fourth MERIT BAD (BAD IS DARK+LESS+DOWN)
Fifth EMOTION HATE (DISGUST IS BAD+DARK+LESS+DOWN
Sixth CLEANLINESS FILTH (DIRTY IS DISGUST+BAD+DARK+LESS+DOWN)
Target MORALITY WRONG (WRONG IS
DIRTY+DISGUST+BAD+DARK+LESS+DOWN)
Next Level HOLINESS EVIL (EVIL IS
WRONG+DIRTY+DISGUST+BAD+DARK+LESS+DOWN)
Tables 3 and 4 show the complete multi-layer mapping for MORALITY with example concepts. The first row of each table shows the maximally concrete concept in the mapping VERTICALITY which is a superordinate to all other domains in the mapping. The domains in the proceeding rows appear in order of abstractness with EVIL being the most abstract. In the last column I have given metaphorical mappings with example concepts from each domain.
Viewed like this, we can clearly observe the unidirectionality of metaphor, and the layering of concepts as domains become more abstract towards the bottom of the table. The concept of RIGHT, then, carries with it the combined conceptual material of all superordinate concepts and, in being so constituted, is a concept with a high level of abstraction – the combined influence of the superordinate domains could be claimed as providing all the senses in which the concept of morally RIGHT can be construed as each domain provides conceptual-semantic material to the next subordinate domain while also preserving the conceptual material from all previous domains, insofar as each concept is necessarily structured by all superordinate concepts.
The reader will also notice that I have included HOLINESS as a further domain (tables 3 and 4). This, I believe, is an uncontroversial addition to the mapping and is used to illustrate how MORALITY itself could function as a superordinate domain to further concepts. In accordance with the method of analysis proposed here, HOLINESS can be tested to show how it is a subordinate domain to all concepts in the mapping, allowing it to be part of the mapping.
It appears from the preceding analysis that MORALITY is a conceptual domain with a relatively high level of abstractness inasmuch as it is necessarily understood in terms of several divergent source domains. Therefore, the conceptual structure of MORALITY can be understood as VERTICALITY → QUANTITY → BRIGHTNESS → MERIT → EMOTION
→ CLEANLINESS → MORALITY as shown in Figure 2.
FIGURE 2 Seven-level Multi-layer Mapping for MORALITY