Metaphoric diagrams and visual representation of social and philosophical cognition: model, metaphor and reference

The researchers’ shift from the linguistic approach to the visual one is a specific feature of modern philosophy. In the author’s opinion, visual argumentation and the logical and conceptual argumentation within the philosophical research are equally important; graphic visualization represented by metaphoric diagrams is an alternative form of analysis, interpretation and modeling of social and philosophical problems. The classification of metaphoric diagrams is considered, their examples are given, their cognitive value is demonstrated in the context of social and philosophical cognition. The research analyzes the referential correlation between the metaphor and its expressive model, the interaction of the metaphoric expression with the subject of its reference. The paper presents the case studies for visual metaphoric structures, processes, subjects that determine various vectors of visual modeling of philosophical, social and philosophical thought. The author reveals the key visual methodological structures defining a set of visual analysis techniques.