Correlations Between Language and Logic in Indian Thought

It may be possible to study special cases of the general philosophical problem, how language and thought are correlated, by considering definite thought structures and definite languages. The difficulty, that thought seems to be accessible only or at least primarily through language, can be partly avoided by concentrating upon formal expressions of thought structures which are considerably different from ordinary language. In the following an attempt will be made to show, with the help of symbolic logic, how certain general structures are expressed in classical Sanskrit and, subsequently, how certain logical structures are expressed in the technical Sanskrit of Indian logic. The results do not prove that some logical principles depend on linguistic structures; for, evidently, the linguistic structures themselves may reflect a deeper-lying structure of thinking or 'being'. On the other hand, if it were possible to show that some expressions could occur only in languages with a special structure-e.g. some Indo-European languages-this kind of research might throw some light on the problem of the universality of logical principles

Epistemology · Linguistics · Logical consequence · Sanskrit · Universality (dynamical systems) · Computer Science · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · Mathematics · Philosophy

• Negation and the Law of Contradiction in Indian Thought

  Open Access•J F Staal•Bulletin of the School of…•1962

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• Nominale ausdrucksformen im wissenschaftlichen sanskrit

  Open Access•J Gonda•Lingua•1955

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