I draw my colleagues attention to a useful paper. In The Cambridge
Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning (2005), Gleitman and Papafragou
(pp. 633-661) discuss the relationship between language and thought.
The writers point out that infants who do not possess language still
possess complex thoughts. Aphasics can demonstrate propositional
thinking. Animals can form representations of space, artefacts and
even mental states. They also point out however, that language
influences thinking and our access to non-linguistic categories.
Regards
Mike McAuley
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