“The Relationship Between Language and Thinking”
Please respond to the following:
Examine whether or not it is possible to think without using language.
Argue for or against the ways a person might enact “languageless” thinking.
If you believe it is not possible, describe the major problems with languageless thinking.
Sample Solution
“The Relationship Between Language and Thinking”
Language is so deeply embedded in almost every aspect of the way we interact with the world that it`s hard to imagine what it would be like not to have it. Can you experience sensations, impressions, and feelings without language? Yes, and very few would argue otherwise. However, while it appears that we can indeed think without language, it is also the case that there are certain kinds of thinking that are made possible by language. Language gives us symbols we can use to fix ideas, reflect on them and hold them up for observation. It allows for a level of abstract reasoning we wouldn’t have otherwise. The philosopher Peter Garruthers has argued that there is a type of inner, explicitly linguistic thinking that allows us to bring our own thoughts into conscious awareness. We may be able to think without language, but language lets us know that we are thinking.
