Literature is Philosophy’s Other, or so the story goes. But what happens when we consider philosophy as the poetic creation of meaning? Philosophy’s beloved metaphors—from melting wax, to oak trees, to robots—are not innocuous illustrations; they generate and circumscribe meaning. Does philosophy’s faith in “reasoning” render it blind to the true force of its metaphors? Using the works of Paul Ricoeur, Roman Ingarden, Friedrich Nietzsche, and others, this chapter explores the “interanimating” operation of metaphor and its ability to import meaning and value into philosophical discourse with and without our intention.