An extended review of Philip Mirowski's edited collection, Natural Ima
ges in Economic Thought. Examines the roles of metaphors; the relation
ships between metaphors of the ''natural'' and the ''social''; the sig
nificance of metaphoric reasoning for economics, with regard to questi
ons of meaning, ontology and epistemology; the discursive, or rhetoric
al, nature of economic theory; and significant historical and interpre
tive issues pertinent to economic thought.