Wilson, Richard James2014-03-142014-03-142008-04-28etd-05122008-011046http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32647In his article, "What Metaphors Mean," Donald Davidson presented his own unique theory of metaphor. While this theory has proved to be influential, there seems to be one problem which a Davidsonian theory cannot account for: the dead metaphor problem. Due to certain aspects of Davidson's theory of metaphor, critics argue that it is impossible for Davidson to explain how dead metaphors form. In this thesis, I will show why Davidson's account should be chosen over other prominent theories of metaphor, and how a Davidsonian might be able to bypass the dead metaphor problem.enIn Copyrightnon-literal meaningBlackFogelinReimerThesishttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05122008-011046/