Moral och metafor: konsumtionens mening

Most studies of consumption have two things in common; they do not define consumption in any concise way, and they incorporate moral values about consumption. Are these two phenomena related to each other? The very meaning and content of the term "consumption" is elusive, despite many attempts at definition and specification. Recent research in cognitive linguistics by George Lakoff and others shows why consumption is such a fuzzy category, and why consumption and moral issues are always related to each other. I briefly demonstrate that 'burning' and 'eating' are the two prototypical acts of consumption, to which all other forms of consumption are metaphorically linked. By exploring the structure of the concept of consumption, and the central metaphors that link its meanings together, we can better grasp our elusive topic. More importantly, we can also avoid some of the pitfalls that so often occur in the social sciences when we use folk-categories as if they were empirical and universal.