Power and force: metaphors, images and representations of political power

Abstract

Against a very rooted tendency in philosophy to demean metaphors and images, latest developments taking place in philosophy, cognitive science and literary studies claim that metaphors have a central role in knowledge and that even human thought itself operates connecting metaphors and concepts. Metaphors, understood here as a sort of verbal pictures, serve to the illustration of very complex phenomena. It is assumed that if a metaphor works, it is because there is a relation of analogy, homology or structural affinity between the two components of the metaphor. In this paper I hold the thesis that the concept of political power has not a clear and univocal definition. Political power is explained in analogy to terms such as «influence», «strength» or «ability». This is shown through a series of relevant examples taken of the history of modern and contemporary political philosophy, whose understanding of political power runs parallel to the physical explanation at their times of physical magnitudes as, for instance, force. These are Hobbes, Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari. In their assimilation of political power to force they are also mirroring the stage of development of physical science. A new paradigm in science has its translation in the meaning of power as force and therefore in the possibilities of resistance against abuse of power.

Keywords: metaphor, power, force, Hobbes, Foucault, Deleuze, Guattari.