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Chinese Counterfactuals Alfred Bloom. Senior Seminar: Language and Thought Simone Hrouda November 2, 2010. Alfred Bloom. Influences. Whorf Behavorists Gottlob Frege Betrand Rusell. “Unicorns do not exist”. Artist unknown, see references at end of powerpoint for details.
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Chinese Counterfactuals Alfred Bloom Senior Seminar: Language and Thought Simone Hrouda November 2, 2010
Influences • Whorf • Behavorists • Gottlob Frege • Betrand Rusell
“Unicorns do not exist” Artist unknown, see references at end of powerpoint for details
Influences (Continued) • Quine • Wittgenstein • Cognitive Structrualism
Counterfactuals in English • “If he ran faster, he would win.” “If John were to go to the library, he would see Mary.” • “If he hadn’t run so quickly he would have been able to stop himself.” “If John had gone to the library, he would have seen Mary.”
Counterfactuals in Chinese if-then • “If John come+ past earlier, they arrive at the movies on time” (If John had come earlier, they would have (but didn’t) arrive at the movies on time.)
Counterfactuals in Chinese if-and-only-if-then • “If you don’t eat dinner, you won’t get a bedtime story.”
Bloom’s Experiment: • 1) What do the Chinese say and not say using counterfactual? • 2) How do language structures impact cognitive lives of speakers? • 3) What role does language play in the development of thought?
Bloom’s Argument: “As one moves into increasingly abstract cognitive realms, such as that of the counterfactual, the formative contributions of linguistic structures to both thought and culture become increasingly pronounced.”
Language, culture, thought? • Culture determines language use, definition, and interpretation • Does language shapes cognitive world and/or directs thought?
References • Bloom, A. H. (1981). The linguistic shaping of thought: A study in the impact of language on thinking in China and the West. Hillsdale, N.J: L. Erlbaum. • Gotlobb Frege. Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/frege/ • Unicorn Picture. Retrieved from: http://shamrag.blogspot.com/2007/03/everyone-blames-unicorn.html or: http://childstoryhour.com/images/coloring/unicorn.jpg, accessed on Aug. 14.14. I am unable to verify the original artist. If you are the original artist, please contact me immediately to indicate whether or not you allow me to use this image in my powerpoint.
