Abstract
How much does our language influence what we can think and perceive? Indeed, does our language control what we can think and perceive? Conversely, do our thoughts and perceptions influence or even control our language? This paper explores these questions, and shows that - while it is difficult to say which comes first, as the process is clearly somewhat circular - it does seem that culture influences language more than language influences culture.

From the Paper
"Theories such as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which combine linguistic relativity and linguistic determinism, are useful in that they remind us of the relationships between culture and language. For example, in Canada the many aboriginal languages have died - and in terms of this hypothesis, this is one of the important reasons why aboriginal cultures are under threat. On the other hand, in South Africa, despite decades of colonial rule and then apartheid, the indigenous languages, such as Zulu and Xhosa, remained very strong. This was reflected in the fact that the indigenous cultures remained very strong - so it is certainly possible that the survival of the languages enabled the survival of the cultures. "

Tags:culture, relativity, linguistic, determinism

Abstract
In this article, the writer looks at whether what we are controls what we can dream, and by implication, what we can think. The writer then discusses how much our language influences what we can think and perceive.

From the Paper
"Philip K. Dick once wrote a book called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? This book was later made into a film called Blade Runner. The book's title was much cleverer, although not so catchy, than the film's title. The book's title invites us to wonder whether artificial people (androids or robots) would dream of artificial things (such as electric sheep). This in turn invites ..."

Tags:language, anthropology, culture

Abstract
This paper explains that, in his essay 'Politics and the English Language', George Orwell states that short and sweet are the way one should speak. However, the author argues, in today's world as in Orwell's time, people have gotten weak, lazy and pretentious with their words. The paper concludes that if his words are used correctly and with agreement on the definition of said words, the person has shown the reader truth in his thoughts, which, when expressed concisely, will change the world a person at a time.

From the Paper
"With our truth being personal and subject to perception and translation, our truth is also subjected to new ideas, thoughts, words, and can change. Words change us, as ours can change and influence others, and how we choose to integrate them into our truth will affect how we communicate in the future. Again, with the world closing in, we speak through email, write instant messages, and have shortened what we say for the sake of saving time. What we have actually become is lazier with each passing day, each email sent, and each quick message to a friend."

Tags:pretentious conflict overuse, instant messages, perception

Abstract
Language as a tradition and experience illustrates the holistic effect of language to individuals. In the field of social psychology, it is posited that language determines thought, and this hypothesis, called the theory of linguistic relativity, is proposed by Benjamin Whorf and Edward Sapir. The theory shows how language determines people's perceptions of their social realities as experienced and related to within their society. Chang-Rae Lee ("Mute in an English-Only World"), Dennis Baron ("Don't Make English Official-Ban it Instead"), and Amy Tan ("Mother Tongue") confront this issue in discourses on language as tradition and experience. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the authors' works and arguments about language and its function and meaning for the individual and society.

From the Paper
"Baron uses the academic approach in portraying English as a tradition, a functional system of codes that enables people to interact with each other in the society. Using this as his primary thesis, Baron argues that English should not be implemented as the country's national language, since "it's hardly even English anymore." The hybridization of English in America is the result of the assimilation of other languages of people with various nationalities who immigrate and live in America. Because of the emergence of hybrid, pseudo-American languages, it cannot be possible to determine the "purity" of English as a language anymore. Thus, implementing English per se defeats the purpose of language for society "that is, to let people interact and understand each other. However, Baron's argument does not conclude definitively, since as he confesses, "there is no obvious candidate" that would be fitting to become an alternative to English. Thus, Baron's arguments is halted and brought to a standstill, since his arguments against the language pertains only to its function as tradition, and not as an argument against English as a language experienced by its users."

Tags:Asian, Chinese, immigrants

Abstract
This paper analyzes Martin Heidegger's definition of art. The author claims that the origin of art is created from some form of activity on the part of the artist, whether it be creating a painting, song, sculpture or poetry. This paper focuses on Van Gogh's painting "A Pair of Shoes" and describes Heidegger's view of this particular work of art as well as his perception of the artist. The writer of this paper questions whether the artist creates the art or if art in fact creates the artist. This paper also discusses the significance of technology and nature in any work of art while describing Heidegger's definition of the 'thing' needed when creating art.

From the Paper
"After mentioning the artist, Heidegger begins to question what the artist is. We must question then if the work is what makes the artist, or is it the artist that makes the work. He tells us that the artist is the source of the work, and the work is the source of the artist. Both the work and the artist depend on each other, and one of them cannot exist without the other. Both the artist and work are related to a thing that comes before each, and that is what Heidegger calls art. If artist and work are both dependent on each other to be the source of the other, so do to both depend on art as their source. Heidegger asks if art can be a source of a work of an artist. Heidegger then claims that art is nothing more than a collective noun that signifies nothing now."

Tags:art, book, literature, van, gogh, painting, poetry, technology, review, perception

Abstract
This paper explores Benjamin Lee Whorf's theory regarding the inter-relationship between language and thought. The paper looks at the large body of evidence supporting the effects of language on memory and perception. The paper concentrates on several examples, such as the cultural differences shaping memory for colors and bilingualism. The paper also summarizes studies by leading researchers in the field, including Lenneberg and Roberts, Heider, DeValois and Jacobs and Schooler and Engstler-Schooler.

From the Paper
"Benjamin Lee Whorf (1956) proposed one of the most well known theories regarding the inter-relationship between a language and thought. Whorf's hypothesis of linguistic relativity (referred to as the whorfian hypothesis) argued that language determines or influences our thinking. It is useful to distinguish between the strong and the weak form of the Whorfian hypothesis (hunt and Agnoli, 1991). According to the strong hypothesis, our language determines our thinking, implying that some thoughts expressible in one language will not be expressible in a second language. This raises the issue of 'translatability': can all sentences in one language be translated accurately into another language? There is little evidence supporting the strong hypothesis, and therefore, it will not be considered any further."

Tags:memory, perception, color, whorf, whorfian

Abstract
This paper examines how Wittgenstein explains the connection between thought and language and investigates the occasions where he claims that thought comes before language and where he seems to contradict this idea. It also looks at Wittgenstein's picture theory of relations, one of the main themes of his "Tractatus" in order to understand how exactly Wittgenstein conceives the relation of thought and language.
Outline
Picture Theory
Contradiction
Expressing Thoughts
Wittgenstein's Beetle
Conclusion

From the Paper
"For a sentence to be totally logical and understandable, there needs to be propositions, names and objects. This suggests to us that everything in a sentence is linked in such a way that it can only describe the circumstances or situation it is describing. Much like the picture theory shows through its structure, what exactly it is. The problem is that sentences cannot be totally unique in that way; there will always be ambiguity, due to the nature of language. While the thought remains in our minds it's meaning can be straight to the point and sharp, but when we transfer it into language to express it, the sharpness becomes lost in translation. "

Tags:beetle, colour, individual, perception, picture, sense, theory, tractatus, wittgenstien

Abstract
This paper examines the subjective nature of reality. It discusses the importance of experiences and thought and how only humans think about the reality of their lives. The paper also discusses the influence of language on our social constructs and reality. Finally the paper discusses cultural subjectivity and the impact that has on reality.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Language
Social Constructs and Reality
Reality and Cultural Subjectivity
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The social constructs inherent in human societies are responsible for so much of our psychological development and conceptual perceptions that most of us are completely oblivious to them. We know only the rules and norms communicated to us by the society in which we live. In many respects, this is a benign phenomenon of social development, but human history also illustrates the depths of objectively immoral conduct of which almost all of us are capable, despite even superior intellect and education. Only by comparing different social constructs can we begin to contemplate what may be truly offensive in our own culture of origin. Even then, it is a difficult task."

Tags:development, perception, conduct, norms

Abstract
This paper explores Mead's perception on the development of language as a means of promoting significant social interactions. This paper applies these theories to the development of Mead's symbolic interactionist thought, where he believes that language is used as a method of conveying social standards. Through doing so, it is shown that Mead's primary belief in the theory of "mind, self, and society" is that all three of these factors are interrelated.

Abstract
In this article the writer examines the influence the mass media exerts on the individual's perception of the world. This is done from the standpoint of social constructionism, a theory heavily influenced by Postmodernist thought. The paper posits that language is our basis for interpreting the world and because language is the product of a social process, the 'reality' we perceive is nothing more than a collective construct. Consequently, the writer maintains that whoever controls the transmission of language and the ideas and information it conveys shapes reality. Today much of this transmission is done by the mass media. The writer concludes that today the role of the mass media and the educational system in socialization is growing as the traditional family structure so instrumental in this process for thousands of years wanes.

From the Paper
"Whenever we read, listen or watch one of the mass media, in other words, we become part of somebody else's agenda, a means to some outside entity's ends. So, at a profound level, we should be continuingly asking ourselves: do we do so willingly or unwittingly? Yet it is a question many rarely pose and fewer answer. Are we too busy, too complascent, or too indifferent to? Or are we simply too trusting? The aura of autheticity surrounding what we read, hear and see in the mass media may very well be lulling us into an uncritical acceptance of the messages imparted."

Tags:social, constructionism, transmission, processes