“He is a lion” changes meaning with context. If it describes a wild animal, lion is literal; if said of a courageous man, the intended quality is bravery.
The first can be investigated as an external factual claim. The second is a metaphor or compressed comparison. Inferring that the man therefore has claws and a tail would confuse figurative and literal senses.
Analysis of poetic syllogism requires identifying which expressions assert facts and which supply imagined associations.
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Poetic Syllogism: Imagined Premises and Emotional Influence
“He is a lion” changes meaning with context. If it describes a wild animal, lion is literal; if said of a courageous man, the intended quality is bravery.
The first can be investigated as an external factual claim. The second is a metaphor or compressed comparison. Inferring that the man therefore has claws and a tail would confuse figurative and literal senses.
Analysis of poetic syllogism requires identifying which expressions assert facts and which supply imagined associations.