Submitted by LifeOfAPancake t3_11eov7t in philosophy
MisterBilau t1_jahxtlm wrote
Reply to comment by Hazzman in The imperfect translation between thoughts and language by LifeOfAPancake
The fact that some languages have one word for something where others don't means nothing to me. What matters is if it's possible to describe or not, regardless of the number of words needed. Saying "Schadenfreude" or "Their failure, pain and or harm is satisfying to me" is the same - you can get the point across. Therefore, you can think it.
The real issue that matters is if it's possible to express a thought at all in a language but not in another, that's what's interesting. The idea of 1984 was just that, making certain thoughts impossible for lack of language. But that has nothing to do with everything being one unique word or not. As long as there is a string in a language, no matter how complex or how long, that can express it, it's fine.
Now, some languages can be more efficient or cumbersome than others, but that just doesn't matter nearly as much as being possible or not to express something.
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