abstraction theory

"the abstraction view claims that there is a single, very general, and abstract concept buttress, which is neutral between the building "buttress" and the argument "buttress." According to this view, "He buttressed the wall" and "He buttressed his argument" are both special cases of the same very abstract concept." (#60 1894)
"the abstraction theory would not distinguish between metaphors of the form A is Β and those of the form Β is A, since it would claim that there are neutral terms covering both domains." (#60 1914)