Language as an instrument of thought

Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics 1 (1):1-23 (2016)
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Abstract

I show that there are good arguments and evidence to boot that support the language as an instrument of thought hypothesis. The underlying mechanisms of language, comprising of expressions structured hierarchically and recursively, provide a perspective (in the form of a conceptual structure) on the world, for it is only via language that certain perspectives are avail- able to us and to our thought processes. These mechanisms provide us with a uniquely human way of thinking and talking about the world that is different to the sort of thinking we share with other animals. If the primary function of language were communication then one would expect that the underlying mechanisms of language will be structured in a way that favours successful communication. I show that not only is this not the case, but that the underlying mechanisms of language are in fact structured in a way to maximise computational efficiency, even if it means causing communicative problems. Moreover, I discuss evidence from comparative, neuropatho- logical, developmental, and neuroscientific evidence that supports the claim that language is an instrument of thought.

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Eran Asoulin
University of New South Wales

Citations of this work

Il linguaggio come collante tra menti individuali e socialità umana.Filippo Batisti - 2019 - In Gaia Bagnati, Alice Morelli & Melania Cassan (eds.), Le varietà del naturalismo. Venezia VE, Italia: Edizioni Ca' Focari. pp. 171-179.

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References found in this work

The Language of Thought.Jerry A. Fodor - 1975 - Harvard University Press.
Mind and World.John Henry McDowell - 1994 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Concepts: Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong.Jerry A. Fodor - 1998 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
Meaning.Herbert Paul Grice - 1957 - Philosophical Review 66 (3):377-388.

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