Language And Thought: Interdisciplinary Themes

What is the place of language in human cognition? Do we sometimes think in natural language? Or is language for purposes of interpersonal communication only? Although these questions have been much debated in the past, they have almost dropped from sight in recent decades amongst those interested in the cognitive sciences. Language and thought is intended to persuade such people to think again. It brings together essays by a distinguished interdisciplinary team of philosophers and psychologists, who discuss various ways in which language may be implicated in human cognition. The editors have provided an introduction which lays out the basic terms and history of the debate, and a consolidated bibliography which will provide a valuable reference for all those interested in this area. The volume will be of great interest to all researchers and students interested in language and its place in cognition. Language and thought Language and thought Interdisciplinary themes edited by Peter Carruthers Professor of Philosophy and Director, Hang Seng Centre for Cognitive Studies, University of Sheffield and Jill Boucher Associate Professor of Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield Published in association with the Hang Seng Centre for Cognitive Studies, University of Sheffield CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, United Kingdom 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Peter Carruthers and Jill Boucher, 1998 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1998 Typeset in 10/12pt Monophoto Times NR [SE] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 521 63108 4 hardback ISBN 0 521 63758 9 paperback Transferred to digital printing 2003 for Sir Q W Lee who made it possible Contents List of contributors Preface 1 Introduction: opening up options page xi xiii 1 PETER CARRUTHERS AND JILL BOUCHER Part I Language, development and evolution Introduction to part I 19 21 PETER CARRUTHERS AND JILL BOUCHER 2 Thought before language: the expression of motion events prior to the impact of a conventional language model 26 SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW AND MING-YU ZHENG 3 The prerequisites for language acquisition: evidence from cases of anomalous language development 55 JILL BOUCHER 4 Some thoughts about the evolution of LADS, with special reference to TOM and SAM 76 JUAN-CARLOS GOMEZ 5 Thinking in language? Evolution and a modularist possibility 94 PETER CARRUTHERS Part II Language, reasoning and concepts Introduction to part II