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[Language and thought].

D Laplane1

  • 1Clinique de neurologie, La Salpêtrière, Paris.

La Revue Du Praticien
|January 11, 1991
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Thought transcends language, as concepts and cognitive functions are not solely dependent on verbal expression. Evidence from aphasia, animal studies, and infant development suggests thought precedes and exceeds linguistic capabilities.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Neuroscience
  • Philosophy of Mind

Background:

  • The relationship between thought and language is a long-standing debate in cognitive science and philosophy.
  • Previous theories often posit language as a prerequisite for complex thought or as its primary medium.

Observation:

  • Aphasic patients demonstrate that conceptual understanding persists despite language impairments.
  • Individuals forget specific words (names, nouns) while retaining the underlying concepts.
  • Analysis of linguistic devices like puns and allusions reveals meaning is context-dependent, not solely verbal.

Findings:

  • Cognitive development in infants and animals shows initial progress is linked to brain maturation, not language acquisition.
  • Studies on split-brain patients highlight the philosophical underpinnings of hemisphere function debates.

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  • The author argues that all knowledge and expression stem from thought, which is not constrained by language.

    • Implications:

    • This challenges linguistic determinism and functionalist cognitivist theories.
    • It suggests that scientific, philosophical, and artistic discourse, while using language, do not fully encompass or limit thought.
    • Understanding thought as independent of and broader than language has significant implications for cognitive research and artificial intelligence.