Ontological Hierarchy

Roles: rank, level, ascent, descent, higher-being, lower-being, chain, order

The pre-Darwinian folk cosmology of ranked ontological levels — the Aristotelian scala naturae. Beings are arranged in a fixed vertical order from lowest (minerals) through plants, animals, humans, angels, to God. Key logic: each level possesses all properties of the levels below plus a distinguishing additional capacity (e.g., animals have locomotion that plants lack; humans have reason that animals lack). The hierarchy is static, exhaustive, and morally loaded — higher means better. Source domain for metaphors that project vertical rank onto social, intellectual, or moral domains.

As Source Frame (1)

• The Great Chain of Being → social-roles

Applied To This Frame (1)

• mythology → World Tree