The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
by Steven Pinker
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Book Summary Information
Author: Steven PinkerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-26
ISBN: 0143114247
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
Book Review: 21st century version of Kant's "a priory" categories
Summary: 4 Stars
Each of the chapters of the book is interesting in its own right, but the book does not really form a coherent whole. It seems as if the author had chosen randomly several linguistic and other topics that interested him and in a final chapter had tried to unite all the information contained in the various chapters to form a conclusion as to how all the topics reveal the way the human mind works.
Very interesting is the chapter relating to the meanings of verbs and the subtleties in semantics that distinguish various seemingly synonymous verbs, like pour and fill. These differences have to do with how we perceive an object as being a subject or an object (thereby determining its relative position), with intentionality or purpose, with causality and temporality, with agency (responsibility), etc. These differences in our perception modes also permeate our laws, since a clear distinction is made between intentional and accidental deeds, which is documented with several interesting examples. Most languages exhibit these semantic differences, so this probably reveals the existence of preset categories in our minds (like the "a priori" categories of Kant).
The book explains Mr. Pinker's point of view regarding opposing theories related to innate knowledge of words or concepts (nature) and absolute subjectivism (nurture). The first theory proposes that each individual is born with a concept for everything (he just needs to "discover" that he already knows the concept when required), while the second theory proposes that concepts and meaning are assigned freely by each individual to the things he encounters. In this second theory, no word could mean the same to two different people. Mr. Pinker chooses to accept a priori categories or "modes of knowing" into which and from which all our knowledge is shaped.
The chapter on "politeness", specially in the way we ask for things we want is also extremely interesting. Here some of the basic rules of efficient communication, namely truthfulness and clarity, are relegated to second term in order not to appear commanding and rude.
This is all in all a very good book, at times difficult because of its emphasis on grammar. I am looking forward to reading Mr. Pinker's other books which are seemingly more focused on their specific topics.
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