Both the method of the New Critics and the modern student's interest in "macro-questions" are briefly discussed by way of introduction. The primary concern of the essay, however, is for an ampler conception of metaphor. Instances of "advanced metaphorical thinking," among them More's "Utopia," Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason," and Pascal's "Pensees," are examined to show different qualities of metaphor as these bear upon evaluation of the texts in which they occur. Other topics discussed are the similarities of various forms of metaphorical thinking and the nature of metaphor as revealed in a "dominant" metaphor of Western culture--"God is an eye." (BN)