Customer Reviews

Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was the first time I had read a book about linguistics. For some time I had heard about Benjamin Lee Whorf and his seminal work on American Indian languages. This is his most famous book, a book of some of his papers during the 30's and 40's.

Unfortunately, given my lack of linguistic knowledge I did not understand much of the terminology throughout his more academic papers such as "Some Verbal Categories of Hopi" or "Gestalt Technique of Stem Composition in Shawnee". Nevertheless there is plenty to read which discusses languages without too much academic terminology, although there is always some. His most interesting reads are the more general ones such as "Language, Mind and Reality" or "Language and Logic".

Whorf makes the fascinating assertion, new for his time, that the language we speak, to some degree at least, forces us to orient our view of the world in a certain direction, for example the noun based structure of Indo-European languages forces it into considering the world as made up of interacting fixed parts whereas Hopi doesn't even have a tense system and doesn't consider the past or the future and sees events as either manifest or unmanifest. A completely different way of viewing the world and yet possessing its own internal logic and ability to express whatever is necessary. This is something Whorf stresses throughout and the so-called `primitive' languages of for example, the native Americans, is far from this western perspective. In fact Hopi stands out as being a language ideally suited to the new physics.

Whorf really lives in two worlds regarding his linguistic studies 1. the fascinating metaphysical world of language constructions throughout the world, i.e. the world view generated by these languages and 2. the strict linguistic approach to languages with its own very formal and structured method to analyse languages, see for example the formulaic approach for one-syllable English words in the paper entitled "Linguistics as an Exact Science".

This book is worth it as no doubt the one by Sapir as well.

Whorf (1899-1941), trained as a chemical engineer, worked as a fire prevention consultant and did original work in linguistic anthropology. He remains best know for advocating that the structure of language not only reflects but influences our world view and behavior. "We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds--and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it this way--an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language" (213). This has been called "the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis," (acknowledging Whorf's mentor, linguistic anthropologist Edward Sapir) although it seems sufficiently general for many hypotheses to be derived from it. Alfred Korzybski independently developed similar notions, writing,"...we read unconsciously into the world the structure of the language we use" (Science and Sanity 60). Students of Korzybski's General Semantics have a particular concern for the practical implications and applications of such views. Read This Book!

The reviewer claiming that Whorf is out of favor in the field of linguistics has a skewed idea of the disipline. Plenty of first-class linguists, including John Lucy, Stephen Levinson, Eve Danziger, Michael Silverstein, Penny Lee, John Gumperz and others take direct inspiration in their cutting-edge research from Whorf.

It is important to understand that the term "Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis" is a misnomer, a misreading that developed in the positivistic 50s after Whorf was dead. He was too smart to refer to his "Principal of Linguistic Relativity" (his term) as a 'hypothesis'. It's closer to an axiom, not an empirically testable hypothesis. This book is not for beginners, but read it carefully and you will gain much insight into the connections between language and thought. If you want a discussion of language for total beginners, Edward Sapir's book _Language_, first published in 1921 has been in continuous print for good reason--it's still excellent and relevant.

This book was required reading when I was in college, and it made such an impression on me that 50 years later I sought it out, and re-read it. Anyone interested in communication, and the impact language has on society ( or how society impacts language!) will find the examples of words used (and not used)in various cultures fascinating.

As of Summer, 2008, there are new Benjamin Lee Whorf materials available, to include articles on linguistics and an entire novel written during the trial of John T. Snopes. Also available on this
CD-ROM are articles and book-length works about Whorf.

See THE BENJAMIN LEE WHORF LEGACY CD-ROM, Ed. Peter C. Rollins.
It is fully described at www.petercrollins.com

This was a most unusual reading experience which prompted contemplation of new(to me) views of reality which were totally unexpected at the outset. I bought this book after reading Against Method by Paul Feyerabend,in which Feyerabend cites this book as a reference supporting his assertion that Western scientific methodology contains many unrecognized assumptions. That Whorf was regarded that highly by Feyerabend is impressive,since Whorf was not formally educated as a linguist, but as a chemical engineer. Whorf was able to pursue his interest in linguistics on his own terms and it is a testimony to his brilliance that he received much acclaim from lettered members in the field. The essays in this book were assembled by John B. Carroll after Whorf's death. They are arranged chronologically,which has the unfortunate result of placing the most technical articles toward the front of the book. The detailed analysis using linguistic terminology is enough to scare the general reader away,if my reaction is any indication. However,I'm glad I persevered because as the book progressed it became more understandable in terms of psychology and anthropology. And,while many of his detailed analyses of native American languages and their comparison to English, were difficult to follow,it was interesting to see how his theories had a firm grounding in the practical application of his craft. In the second half of the book,it became increasingly evident that his interest in this field had deeply-felt metaphysical underpinnings. He felt that Western science was boxed in by the artificial constructions of English,and the study of languages could be the tool to help the human race come to a clearer understanding of reality. In the last essay he compares the influence of language to the Hindu concept of Maya which imposes distracting patterns on humanity which cloud our consciousness. His missionary zeal to convince the world of the importance of studying language as a tool for progress seems to me to border on the eccentric.However,I believe there can be little doubt that he was an original and important thinker. This was an interesting and thought-provoking collection containing not only his remarkable theories, but also many fascinating bits of knowledge about the history and practice of working with languages.

I used this book in research back in the 60's, while trying to create a theory of learning based on game theory, linguistic analysis and linguistic relativism. Long past my senior thesis days, Whorf's work still intrigues me, especially now that physics has revealed new levels of reality. Back in the 60's, I was just beginning to understand that Wittgenstein was essentially a metaphysician, and that his 'linguistic analysis' was breaking down our conventional view of the world, opening up new approaches to thinking about the nature of reality, Time, Memory, and Meaning. Whorf's writing on the cultural relativism of language and thought was instrumental in opening my awareness to the possibilities of meta-linguistics. Far from being out of favor as one reviewer has stated, Satir-Whorf is the language of today's science and knowledge, and describes the gradual change in how we perceive the world.

For a reader like me, interested in language but far from a student of linguistics, some of the essays in this book are beyond me. However, the essays dealing with differences between what are considered languages of the Western world and some of the Amerindian languages prove fascinating. Whorf provides an alternate view of the world through other languages, languages not so rooted in dividing past from present from future as separate entities but in viewing a flowing universe of ever-becoming: a lesson in the journey rather than the destination. I purchased this book after reading of Whorf in Diane Ackerman's An Alchemy of Mind where she references Whorf's marriage of language and developing relativity of the time. This book leads me to understand that languages other than English exist that are far more suited to grasping the philosophy of quantum physics: languages not as static, languages with more movement, allowing for the principles of uncertainty. I like that in a language.

This is an intriguing collection of essays by Benjamin Whorf, who provided a decidely different perspective on how language interfaces with reality through the human medium. I found all of the essays to be interesting, but particularly enjoyed the ones that explored the metaphysics of language. I think this is a book that any linguist should read, but also one that many a magician will want to read, in order to better appreciate the connection between language and reality.

It's an interesting topic, no doubt, but the Whorf Hypothesis has gone out of favor in the field of linguistics.
I recommend Pinker for not-too-technical linguistic reading.