In this paper I shall deal with metaphors involving natural kind terms. The issue behind this is the validation of the literal - the metaphorical distinction. However, it must be considered suspicious if one starts from the bald affirmation of one of the alternatives. Thus, I propose to begin from an analysis of what seems to be the most controversial point about natural kind terms - how sense relates to reference, and, further, what is the bridge from those to speakers' linguistic competence. The question for metaphor becomes then whether terms used metaphorically imply the same correlation of extensional and inferential properties in accounting for their possible meaning as the "literal" natural kind terms do.
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