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Howdy Mr. Cur,
Not ot be contrary, but, I must write that I disagree with the assertion that language is the vehicle for acquiring thought. You might find these three examples persuasive:
First, what about prelinguistic children? They have no language yet much observation/experimentation tells us clearly that they do think.
Second, what of deaf persons, who through unfortunate circumstance, do not have the opportunity to acquire any language. There are a few such folks around who have grown to adulthood with no language at all (neither sign language nor spoken langauge). Yet, they can clearly think' e.g., they can repair locks - a task which involves plenty of if-then logic. (For an absolutely fascinating description of this see a book titled "A man without words." The author's last name is "Schaller" and I can't recommend this book enough. It's an extrordinary story.)
Third, what of polysemy? If words and their referents don't correspond on a one-to-one basis, we must acknowledge the ability of a sentence's context to guide us in determining the meaning of ambiguous words. So, the next logical question is how would a person cognitively represent this ability?
Thus, I think that the conclusions from modern cognitive science tells us that while it is likely that only the possesion of language allows one to acquire formal/abstract thought, the function of language in this dynamic is strictly an intrapersonal one.
Clearly, language can assist thougth, but it is not thought's equal, nor is it even a necessary condition for the acquisition of thought.
As you can imagine, most of my background has persuaded me of the above, but frankly, I have heard little of the other side of the debate. Can you fill me in on it, and describe how it could refute the three above propositions?
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted Language Bohemian_Cur 06/07/07 05:55 AM Re: Language Jackie 06/07/07 03:05 PM Re: Language Bohemian_Cur 06/08/07 12:55 AM Re: Language Aramis 06/13/07 07:47 PM Re: Language Jackie 06/14/07 04:03 PM Re: Language BranShea 06/15/07 02:15 PM Re: Language Jackie 06/15/07 02:35 PM Re: Language BranShea 06/15/07 04:44 PM Re: Language Aramis 06/15/07 07:00 PM Re: Language Nanu Nanu 06/08/07 01:57 AM Re: Language Bohemian_Cur 06/08/07 03:36 AM Re: Language Faldage 06/08/07 09:31 AM Re: Language of troy 06/08/07 12:18 PM Re: Language polyglot 06/17/07 01:34 AM Re: Language Faldage 06/17/07 11:22 AM Re: Language olly 06/17/07 09:39 PM Re: Language Faldage 06/18/07 12:21 AM Re: Language zmjezhd 06/18/07 12:47 AM Re: Language olly 06/18/07 12:58 AM Re: Language wsieber 06/20/07 09:48 AM Re: Language Faldage 06/20/07 10:37 AM Re: Language zmjezhd 06/20/07 02:22 PM Re: Language Maven 06/20/07 04:05 PM Re: Language wsieber 06/20/07 07:04 PM Re: Language themilum 06/21/07 02:29 AM Re: Language Faldage 06/21/07 10:32 AM Re: Language themilum 06/21/07 11:46 AM Re: Language BranShea 06/22/07 09:17 AM Re: Language Aramis 06/22/07 07:44 PM Re: Language BranShea 06/22/07 08:07 PM Re: Language AnnaStrophic 06/23/07 02:03 PM Re: Language wow 06/23/07 04:53 PM Re: Language Nanu Nanu 06/22/07 10:29 PM Re: Language themilum 06/22/07 11:50 PM Re: Language Zed 06/22/07 11:52 PM Re: Language AnnaStrophic 06/23/07 02:01 PM Re: Language themilum 06/18/07 01:15 AM Re: Language Faldage 06/10/07 07:13 PM Re: Language Logwood 06/11/07 12:54 PM Re: Language Maven 06/11/07 07:44 PM Re: Language of troy 06/11/07 07:52 PM Re: Language AnnaStrophic 06/11/07 08:34 PM Re: Language themilum 06/11/07 08:43 PM Re: Language Nanu Nanu 06/21/07 02:00 AM Re: Language nancyk 06/13/07 05:54 PM Re: Language themilum 06/11/07 09:04 PM Re: Language Maven 06/11/07 10:41 PM Re: Language themilum 06/11/07 11:07 PM Re: Language wsieber 06/15/07 06:10 PM Re: Language ChrisMcA 06/23/07 08:38 PM Re: Language Bohemian_Cur 06/23/07 11:09 PM Re: Language Zed 06/27/07 12:27 AM Re: Language Logwood 06/27/07 10:48 PM Re: Language Zed 06/27/07 11:30 PM Re: Language Faldage 06/27/07 11:41 PM Re: Language Aramis 06/28/07 07:44 PM Re: Language olly 06/28/07 10:34 PM Re: Language Faldage 06/28/07 10:37 PM Re: Language Bohemian_Cur 06/29/07 12:56 AM Re: Language AnnaStrophic 06/29/07 02:31 PM Re: Language sjmaxq 06/29/07 02:36 PM Re: Language Alex Williams 06/29/07 02:44 PM Re: Language Logwood 06/29/07 07:24 PM Re: Language tsuwm 06/30/07 07:27 PM Re: Language of troy 06/30/07 08:48 PM Re: Language sjmaxq 06/30/07 11:01 PM Re: Language tsuwm 06/30/07 11:28 PM Re: Language sjmaxq 06/29/07 02:39 PM Language and Thought Nanu Nanu 06/29/07 07:41 PM Re: Language and Thought Alex Williams 06/29/07 11:42 PM Re: Language and Thought of troy 06/30/07 03:12 AM
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