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Archive for the ‘linguistic determinism’ Category

September 8th, 2009 - 1:13 pm § in language and thought, linguistic determinism

Linguistic Determinism – “freedom” & counting

Let’s talk more about language and thought. If you missed it, check out my post on linguistic determinism. Last time I concluded that if language keeps one from practicing thinking about something, then it succeeds in affecting the way one thinks. Did you ever read George Orwell’s book, [...]

August 25th, 2009 - 12:30 am § in linguistic determinism, pinker, sapir, sapir-whorf hypothesis, whorf

Linguistic Determinism

Linguistic determinism is the idea that language shapes thought.  There have been myriad arguments for and against this claim. The main proponent of linguistic determinism was Benjamin Lee Whorf, a linguist who (like me) developed an interest in linguistics later in life. He graduated from MIT with[...]