Johnson, M. (1987)

Introduces a theory of image schemata, fundamentally spatial and/or temporal mental structures (e.g. CONTAINER, IN, OUT, LINK, PATH, CYCLE, SCALE, CENTER-PERIPHERY, SURFACE, BALANCE, etc.) central to human cognition.

From the Introduction (p xix):
"We human beings have bodies. We are 'rational animals,' but we are also 'rational animals,' which means our rationality is embodied. The centrality of human embodiment directly influences what and how things can be meaningful for us, the ways in which these meanings can be developed and articulated, the ways we are able to comprehend and reason about our experience, and the actions we take. I...explore some of the more important ways in which structures of our bodily experience work their way up into abstract meanings and patterns of inference."

"...human bodily movement, manipulation of objects, and perceptual interactions involve recurring patterns without which our experience would be chaotic and incomprehensible. I call these patterns 'image schemata,' because they function primarily as abstract structures of images. They are gestalt structures, consisting of parts standing in relations and organized into unified wholes, by means of which our experience manifests discernible order. When we seek to comprehend this order and to reason about it, such bodily based schemata play a central role."

From pages 27-28:
"...image schemata and their transformations constitute a distinct level of cognitive operations, which is different from both concrete rich images (mental pictures), on the one hand, and abstract, finitary propositional representations, on the other. Image schemata exist at a level of generality and abstraction that allows them to serve repeatedly as identifying patterns in an indefinitely large number of experiences, perceptions, and image formations for objects or events that are similarly structured in relevant ways...As a result of this simple structure, they are a chief means for achieving order in our experience so that we can comprehend and reason about it."