Aristotle's Welfare Queen

377 Words2 Pages
The Greek philosopher Aristotle contended that the use of metaphors in speech and literature allows the speaker to convey new meanings through the act of establishing a unity between two things that do not typically belongs together. In modern politics metaphors are frequently utilized to influence public opinion and legislation. In this essay I will argue that the use of the term “Welfare Queen” in politics exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a metaphor as a linguistic tool to persuade an audience in which one contrasting concept is understood in terms of the other. Welfare Queen coincides with Aristotle’s definition of a metaphor because the term is composed of two words that are contrary to one another by definition. Aristotle states