Re: Thought and Language

At 06:52 AM 12/15/98 -0800, you wrote:
>I'm writing a paper for Philosophy on Thought and Language (or, perhaps
>more aptly, Language and Thought...) and it suddenly occurred to me last
>night that there's probably quite a bit of good insight here on the list.
>
>So, then, anyone who would like to throw me some opinions (either
>philosophical or psychological) on the relationship between Thought and
>Language as well as the name of your university (if applicable) stands a
>very good chance of being quoted.
>
>Does language form the boundary of human thought? (Sapir-Whorf)
>Does language *create* thought? (Vygotsky, I believe)
>etc.
Culture creates thought; language puts restraints on the possibilities of
expression. A more free language allows you to express yourself easier, but
a restrictive one doesn't restrict what you can actually think about.
"inexpressable in words", they say. Along with your culture, your
exprerience shapes what you think. If you have contact with more and many
different types of people/languages, your thought opens up.
--
-Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.

-Garrett Jones aka Alkaline
Rising Sun - C&C2: Tiberian Sun - http://www.cnc2.com/
Malat - http://www.metro.net/3jones/malat/