- Paperback: 196 pages
- Publisher: Harcourt Brace International; 5th edition edition (1 Jan 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0156482401
- ISBN-13: 978-0156482400
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 14 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 462,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
In this thoroughly revised, updated edition of his classic "Language in Thought and Action, " S.I. Hayakawa discusses the role of language in human life, the many functions of language, and how language - sometimes without our knowing - shapes our thinking. The author writes provocatively about the relationship between language and racial and religious prejudice; about the nature and dangers of advertising, from a linguistic point of view; and, in a completely new chapter called "The Empty Eye, " about the content, form, and hidden message of television, from situation comedies to news coverage to political advertising.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Monday, May 1, 2000
Language in Thought and Action by S.I. Hayakawa and Alan R. Hayakawa
I found this book very thought provoking. It seeks to stimulate and illuminate where many other works could confuse. For anyone interested in the uses of language and the impact it makes upon our everyday lives I can only highly recommend reading it. It is also a prime example of writing with clarity.
I have just finished reading this book after taking it slowly over the last couple of weeks. The ideas in the book are presented in a very clear and readable way. The ideas, whilst they are complex and have impact upon the way in which we use language in any context, are easy to digest. I read it slowly in order to review each section and fully digest them. It is a book which I shall refer back to and recommend to friends and colleagues.
As a student of Neuro Linguistic Programming I had known about the book Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzibsky for sometime. Intending to read what I had was told was a large heavy volume I ordered a copy, locally, sometime ago, and am still waiting. I had anticipated a heavy read. When I discovered that Hayakawa's book covered the same area and was available I bought it. I also recognised that it was shorter and well recommended which was additional impetus.
The book leads the reader to question the very language that we use and the impact that it has upon the manner in which we think. Language and the way we use it governs how we interact with the world. The internal maps that we create result in our interpretation of events and reality fitting into our own mental structures. The book lead me to the conclusion that unless we relate to the world in a flexible manner then individuals and society exhibit limitations. Probably more worrying is the realisation that we can allow ourselves to be manipulated by language as happened in nazi germany.
The book has helped to refresh my understanding of the use of language in all contexts and helped deepen my understanding of the applications of NLP.
Ian Bracegirdle at Designing Change
Format:Library Binding|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love words and the English language. I love reading well written prose, from fiction to business reports. I am constantly challenged to write and communicate well. I cannot understand how I could have gone through life up to now without reading Hayakawa. Almost everything worth saying about good written English can be found in two short books: this one and Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
36 reviews
59 of 64 people found the following review helpful
Why should I care about semantics?
17 Jun 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's been said that language is what differentiates humans from the apes. But why language? Why not hawaiian shirts? Senator Hayakawa's short book explains why language, and particularly meaning, is so important. It stands alone on its own merits, or as an elegant frame to the debate addressed in Korzybski's monolithic 1933 work, _Science and Sanity._
Ever been in an argument? Ever get hot and bothered, maybe even start shouting, until you eventually realize that your disagreement is over the definition of terms? And did you ever stop to consider that there might be more than two sides to every story - maybe an infinite number? Come along as Hayakawa examines these issues in great detail.
The style of the book is so lucid, you'll almost feel as if you're being reminded of things you've always known. Does the book reveal universal truth? Or maybe just a skillful command of language?
I recommend this to any human who uses language to communicate or think. You'll never look at Hillary Clinton's "politics of meaning" the same way again.
45 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Man's crutch, language, dissected and explored
16 July 1999
Format:Paperback
This book presents fundamental ways to examine the human relationship to language and thought. Hayakawa presents the building blocks of modern linguistic theories like NLP with precise and illuminating examinations of speech, human emotions, and "common sense."
This book is intruiging and at times disturbing. The study of propoganda is mind expanding and illistrative of the dark side of humanity. Think of it as a How-To manual to create a Orwellian 1984-like society.
I can't recommend this book more strongly. It will alter the way you think and relate to your own thoughts. Read this book.
48 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Required reading for anyone who uses language, e.g., you.
26 Dec 1998
Format:Paperback
Like a previous reviewer, I was required to read this book for an English class, and also like that reviewer I re-discovered it a few years back.
Senator Hayakawa's main point is that, since it is language we humans use in order to think, and since language has such an extraordinary power to influence others and ourselves, we should pay heed to how we use it and how we interpret it.
In *Language in Thought and Action* Hayakawa discusses ways of better understanding language, and therefore thought, and therefore action, including the use of the "operational definition" and the need to recognize different levels of abstraction.
His essay comparing poetry and advertising is, all by itself, worth the price of the book. You'll never again be so smug about your pronouncements or those of others after reading about two-valued logic versus the multi-valued orientation. You'll learn why the words "Tell me more" can make a difference to you.
I like this book so much I decided to mail several copies to people I know as surprise gifts, along with a letter explaining my enthusiasm for it.
If you use language, if you think, if you act, you should read this book.
Update of November 2009: I am now reading this book for a fourth time. You can read a long excerpt at [...].
Senator Hayakawa's main point is that, since it is language we humans use in order to think, and since language has such an extraordinary power to influence others and ourselves, we should pay heed to how we use it and how we interpret it.
In *Language in Thought and Action* Hayakawa discusses ways of better understanding language, and therefore thought, and therefore action, including the use of the "operational definition" and the need to recognize different levels of abstraction.
His essay comparing poetry and advertising is, all by itself, worth the price of the book. You'll never again be so smug about your pronouncements or those of others after reading about two-valued logic versus the multi-valued orientation. You'll learn why the words "Tell me more" can make a difference to you.
I like this book so much I decided to mail several copies to people I know as surprise gifts, along with a letter explaining my enthusiasm for it.
If you use language, if you think, if you act, you should read this book.
Update of November 2009: I am now reading this book for a fourth time. You can read a long excerpt at [...].
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