Assessing Frames for Epistemic Aptness

We often employ ‘framing devices’, such as metaphors, to express and coordinate perspectives.  Can such frames help achieve genuine understanding?  If they merely manipulate associative patterns of thought, then the Gestalt click of ‘getting’ a frame offers a dangerous illusion of epistemic value.  Framing devices can support a robust and epistemically distinctive access to the world; identify some norms for assessing their epistemic aptness; and explore ways to achieve critical engagement.