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The cognitive functions of language.

Peter Carruthers¹

¹Department of Philosophy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. pcarruth@umd.edu

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|November 6, 2003

Summary

Natural language plays a key role in human thinking, not as the sole medium, but as an integrator of domain-specific cognitive faculties. This research explores various theories on language

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Philosophy of Mind
Linguistics

Background:

The relationship between natural language and human thought is a long-standing debate in cognitive science and philosophy.
Existing theories range from language being conceptually necessary for thought to it merely scaffolding cognitive processes.
Previous research has not fully reconciled the diverse roles language may play in cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

To critically evaluate different versions of the thesis that natural language is involved in human thinking.
To propose and elaborate a novel hypothesis regarding the primary cognitive function of natural language.
To integrate diverse evidence and theoretical considerations to identify the most plausible account of language's role in cognition.

Main Methods:

Distinguishing between strong (e.g., conceptually necessary) and weak (e.g., scaffolding) forms of the language-thought thesis.
Reviewing and analyzing existing philosophical arguments and social scientific perspectives.
Examining recent experimental evidence related to language's cognitive functions.

Main Results:

Strong versions of the thesis, such as language being conceptually necessary for all thought, are deemed implausibly strong.
Weak versions, like language acquisition necessity or scaffolding, are considered uninterestingly weak.
Evidence suggests natural language functions as a medium for non-domain-specific thinking, integrating specialized cognitive faculties.

Conclusions:

Natural language is not the fundamental medium of all thought but serves a crucial integrative role in higher-level cognition.
The proposed model posits language as the interface for non-domain-specific thought, connecting various specialized cognitive modules.
This perspective offers a more nuanced understanding of the architecture of human cognition and language's place within it.

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