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Language starts as a tool external to the child used for social interaction. The child guides

personal behavior by using this tool in a kind of self-talk or "thinking out loud."Initially, self-talk is very much a tool of social interaction and it tapers to

negligible levels when the child is alone or with deaf children. Gradually self-talk

is used more as a tool for self-directed and self-regulating behavior. Then,

because speaking has been appropriated and internalized, self-talk is no longer

present around the time the child starts school. Self-talk develops along a rising

not a declining, curve; it goes through an evolution, not an involution.

Thinking without language?

Can we think without knowing any language? Searching in the internet for opinions about this

question, leads to a broad spectrum of answers. Some claim that one can also think in pictures. Or thatone has to think to learn a language. I also read that neurosciences already proved that thinking

without language is possible. However, answers with philosophical references often deny that one can

think without language.

To understand this, let us discuss its both aspects-

Can we think without using language?

Short answer, yes. But its not that simple. We dont have to use words to think. I canthink about my brother without his name or the word brother crossing my mind. We canthink about what we want to do tonight; design the floor plan of a house (or a yurt, but

thats another story); create a symphony; develop various aspects of a theory. We can

project ourselves into the future, or go back to our past; solve complex problems. Allwithout recourse to words.

http://butzplog.blogspot.com/2010/01/thinking-without-language.htmlhttp://butzplog.blogspot.com/2010/01/thinking-without-language.html

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We will get a little back into evolution. There should definitely have been a time where

we did not have languages. So people did find it difficult to put their ideas across and

communicate. So they started drawing pictures. But pictures have a problem - they arepolysemous. If I show you an apple, it can mean an apple, a fruit, a red color etc., So

there is always an ambiguity in communication. So to avoid this our ancestors moved a

little bit up the abstraction scale and languages were born. Some times even language is

ambiguous and that is where a more strict formalism like mathematics comes in.In order to fully hold it in our mind, give it certain

persistence, we usually need some sort of language or code. Not necessarily a natural

language could be mathematical or musical notation, or a number of other codes. For

many things, words are a wonderful tool when it comes to taking hold of our thoughts.Language is useful in the prehension of thought, to give it a more stable form. In a way,

to transmit it to ourselves. In some cases it is not possible such as we can take anexample of a born child who is naturally deaf so for him or her it is not so easy to think

without language.

Is thought possible without a prior language?

Here it gets Trickier. I dont think it possible to reach a certain level of thinking without

having beforehand integrated (I prefer this word to learning) a language. Language

gives a basis with which to structure (without necessarily influencing lets not get intothat one) our thought processes.

Of course, its pretty hard to adequately judge the intellectual capacities

of someone who cannot speak, with whom a structured enough communication is not

possible. On the other hand, we can see that many intellectual things are possible withoutlanguage: simple problem solving; creation and use of rudimentary tools; collaboration;

even playing tricks. All of these have been observed in primates. Yes it is possible to

think without language.Language is only one of the expressions of Communication

that we use. We also use concept, visual, audio and sensory methods to communicate. If

you want proof, try using language to describe "red." (Or any color).You can't. But you

can show someone red--and they will understand you! Babies aren't born with language,yet, they think. Animals don't use language (not that we understand) and have extremely

limited communication skills compared to humans, but they also think. A person born

without the ability to speak or see or hear would have to be able to communicate with orwithout language--such as Helen Keller did--she did not learn language until she was

nearly 10 years old.

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Think of the IQ tests (if you have solved one), and some of those problems with

figures. When one thinks of which figure doesnt fit, or something like that, what we do

are things like rotating the figure in our minds, or imagining the mirror figure, or

something like that. That is surely thinking and conscious act, and it doesnt seem that it

is done in language.

Thinking without language

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 29 April 1951) was an

Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in the areas of logic, philosophy of

mathematics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language has given his perspective

towards this issue by giving an example,I will briefly introduce Wittgenstein's argumentstarting with his famous paragraph (219)-

Suppose everyone had a box with something in it: we call it a 'beetle'. No one can lookinto anyone else's box, and everyone says he knows what a beetle is only by looking at

his beetle. Here it would be quite possible for everyone to have something different in his

box. One might even imagine such a thing constantly changing. But suppose the word

'beetle' had a use in these people's language. If so it would not be used as a name of athing. The thing in the box has no place in the language-game at all; not even as a

something: for the box might be empty. No, one can 'divide through' by the thing in the

box; it cancels out, whatever it is.

To give some explanations: Wittgenstein considers language as a game. The game

has certain rules (like grammar) but is learned by practice. Therefore, studying languagehas to focus on the practice / use of language. Wittgenstein makes this argument against

sensations as private objects. In terms of private sensations, I can never be sure whether

the sensation is the same sensation I had last time as I used the same word for it.

Conclusion-Now, we can come back to the original question: Can we think without language? Theanswer is rather simple and straight-forward: The question has no meaning. 'Thinking' is

an abstract word defined by the use in the language game. Therefore, we cannot use 'to

think' in a context (without language) where the word 'think' has never been used nor

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Defined nor practiced.

In case of thinking without language, there is not even a question without the reference.

So, in conclusion, the question cannot even be reasonably asked whether we can thinkwithout language.

References Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, 3rd. ed, tr. G. E. M. Anscombe (Oxford:Basil Blackwell, 1972 [1953]),para. 219.

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