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Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Explanations > Theories > Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Description | Example | So What? | See also | References
Description
Our understanding of the world is determined by the language we use. In effect, we language reality into existence (a scary thought!).
This is something that Wittgenstein also considered in Philosophical Investigations (1953), where instead of seeing sentences as pictures of the world, as he had done in his earlier work, he viewed it as a series of games, each with its own rules. This undermines any distinction between the real world and language and he saw the world as existing only within language.
Example
If I say ‘vegetarianism is good’ often enough then it will eventually become true. In fact it becomes a (not the) truth as I say it, at least for me.
So what?
Using it
Understand the power of language. Use it to good effect. The pen and the mouth are truly more powerful than the sword.
Defending it
Understand the power of language. Hear how others are using it. Do not let their reality become your reality unless it makes sufficient sense to you.
See also
http://venus.va.com.au/suggestion/sapir.html, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/whorf.html, www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/introductory/sapirw.html
References
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