Re: Thought and Language

Josh Brandt-Young wrote:
> Does language form the boundary of human thought? (Sapir-Whorf)
> Does language *create* thought? (Vygotsky, I believe)
> etc.
My personal belief is that language does not *create* or *shape*
thought, nor does it form the boundary of thought, but it does shape
it.  It is impossible to seperate a language from the culture that
speaks it, for language and other cultural phenomena shape and influence
each other.  The culture (including language) helps to shape thought and
personality, but does not determine it.

Language, IMHO, has its most powerful influence on the individual in the
form of interpersonal communication.  That is, if one could not express
the idea of freedom into words (as in 1984's Newspeak), then an
individual may still be able to conceive of the concept, but could not
explain it to others.  To summarize, if a concept is easily expressible
in a language, then it stands a better chance of being accepted by
others than if it's not easily expressible.

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