Full Idea
Conceptual metaphors permit the use of sensorimotor inference for abstract conceptualisation and reason. This is the method by which abstract reason is embodied.
Gist of Idea
Abstract reasoning is rooted in the sensorimotor inferences of the body
Source
G Lakoff / M Johnson (Philosophy in the Flesh [1999], 25 'Conception')
A Reaction
They argue that metaphors form the crucial bridges between instinctive bodily reasoning ('behaving sensibly' in my terminology) and abstract thought. I think they are right, despite an overemphasis on metaphor.
Book Reference
Lakoff,G/Johnson,M: 'Philosophy in the Flesh' [Basic Books 1999], p.556