The Stuff of Thought
Steven Pinker Explores Language as a Window into Human Nature
In his series of books on the relationship between language and human nature Steven Pinker has revolutionised the way we think about language. In The Stuff of Thought he analyses the real meaning of words and how we use them and reveals what this use can tell us about humanity.
The Study of Language and Human Nature
Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and, unusually, The Stuff of Thought is third book in two trilogies of popular science books that he has written.
The first trilogy explores the relationship between language and the human mind. The first book in the trilogy, The Language Instinct, provided an overview of language as a method of connecting sound and meaning. Pinker followed this with Words and Rules which examined the units of language, how they are remembered and how they are assembled into combinations that give language its expressive meaning. With The Stuff of Thought, Pinker has turned his attention to the meanings of words and constructions and the way that language is used in social settings.
Pinker’s second trilogy concentrates on human nature. In the first book, How the Mind Works, Pinker set about reverse-engineering the psyche in the light of cognitive science and evolutionary psychology. In the second, The Blank Slate, he explored the concept of human nature and its moral, emotional and political elements. The trilogy is finished off with The Stuff of Thought which serves to examine what can be learned about humanity from the way people put their thoughts and feelings into words.
Accessible Theories
Pinker argues that humans are “verbivores, a species that lives on words” and so, in order to understand why people do the things that they do, it is necessary to make a thorough examination of language. Explaining this theory of connectivity between nature and language is necessarily a complex process since it is such a complex theory but Pinker uses his trademark wit and approachable style makes his meaning clear and The Stuff of Thought a joy to read.
After consideration of the theories of “linguistic determinism” (the idea that language is a prison for thought) and “extreme nativism” (the idea that all of our mental concepts are innate), Pinker aligns himself with the middle ground of “conceptual semantics” where the meanings of words depend on an underlying framework of basic cognitive concepts. It sounds hard to digest but Pinker illustrates each of his theoretical points with real world and often amusing examples which make the difficult subject matter as easily understandable as possible.
The Stuff of Thought is an accessible yet wonderfully illuminating study of language and is yet another intellectual treat from Steven Pinker.
The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
ISBN 978-0141015477, Penguin Books Ltd, 2008, £9.99, pp512
The Stuff of Thought
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