Language and Knowledge

We read the introduction to language in the reading packet and then
briefly discussed the contents.

Quotes we discussed:

"Understanding what someone says to you is thus attributing to him the
ideas which his words arouse in yourself." - Collingwood

"The map is not the territory" - Korzybski

"Words are empolyed to convey ideas; but when the ideas are grasped,
men forget the words." - Chuang Tzu

"Thought processes are really motor habits in the larynx." - J.B. Watson

"If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a different world." -
Wittgenstein


Some questions discussed:

Can we allow a word to mean whatever we want it to mean?

What does the example of Helen Keller and others in her shoes suggest
about the relationship between spoken/written language and thought?

Does our language determine what we perceive and know?

Does Polyani contradict himself by saying, "All human thought comes to
existance by grasping the meaning and mastering the use of language," and
"I know more than I can say."

What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

What kind of world do bilingual speakers experience? Is it any different
than the one experienced by a speaker of a single language?

What are some potential weaknesses in the experiment where bilingual
Japanese women were interviewed?