Abstract

Discusses the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis, which maintains that nature be dissected along the lines laid down by native language. One characteristic of most modern languages is that subject–verb relationships can be expressed only in active and passive voices. Modern languages might force people into dichotomous thinking patterns, since human action is couched primarily in one voice or the other. Throughout history, several languages have possessed middle voices which allow for a more complex relationship between a subject and verb than can be expressed by either the AV or PV alone. English does not have a commonly used MV. This deficit might condition human thinking to possess bipolar characteristics. Modern psychological theories of human agency help scientists, legal scholars, and philosophers to adapt thinking to better reflect the continuous characteristics of the world of human action. 2012 APA, all rights reserved)