The Limits of Language-Thought Influences Can Be Set by the Constraints of Embodiment

What is it about?

Language and thought are intimately related to one another, but the level or degree of connectedness between language and thought is not clear due to the fact that the influence of language over thought can be more context-specific or general enough. This reflects general assumptions from the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. If the influence of language over thought, thinking and reasoning is very context-specific in being applicable to specific modes/modalities of cognition such as color, space, visual motion etc., this may suggest that the constraints of embodiment determine how modal linguistic symbols come to be grounded in neurally instantiated modality-specific systems. With this in the backdrop, this paper will point out that the special role of natural language in charting out the territory of cognition must be explored with caution and, if needed, suspicion, especially when the entry is through particular languages.

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Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This work aims to tame the excess in assumptions linking differences in thoughts and thinking to language structures and their variation.

Perspectives