Linguagem e Pensamento

Abstract

In this essay I discuss the issue of linguistic determinism. I begin by reviewing two famous standpoints. Orwell’s determinist standpoint according to which whoever controls public language controls thought and Pinker’s anti-determinist standpoint according to which thought develops in a medium of its own, outside of the reach of any attempts to gerrymander it through the gerrymandering of public language. I proceed by an analysis of the way the terms “language” and “thought” are used by these and other relevant authors and conclude that both terms are used by determinists and anti-determinists to refer to completely different entities. I therefore contend that in such a context these terms should best be viewed as theoretical terms. As a consequence, I maintain that it is not possible to discuss any dependence claims independently of a general assessment of the theoretical frameworks within which they are made. Finally, I analyse the way these terms seem to me to be used in natural language contexts and try to draw some conclusions from there.