Language and Thought

So, it is pretty well assumed that our experiences and perceptions influence how we create our language, but could the reverse be so as well? Could our language influence the way we think? For example, Luce Irigaray claims that language is inherently sexist, and we think in language, and how we think influences our perceptions of reality. Therefore, we interpret reality with a sexist bent. Language can therefore be an influence on our perceptions, just as our perceptions can influence how we use language.

It seems to me that there is a dialectic occurring between language and perception. They play off of one another and continually alter and change one another. Reality then is filtered through our construction of language, which then changes our language in itself, which alters our perceptions yet again. It is a vicious cycle.

Emotional Constructs

Quick question. Do we construct our own emotions, or do we discover them? This question pops up in a lot of Constructivistic literature, and it got me thinking. We label certain states that we experience with terms and we call some of these emotions. In other words, we use language to describe certain states of being. Language is a constructed phenomenon, and a single word can mean different things to different people. Because of this, one could imagine someone having a sensation that they call happiness than what you call happiness. Is the other person wrong? Is there only one objective state of happiness and some people just have a certain state misleading?

On the other hand, calling something happiness and experiencing it are completely different. So can someone experience happiness differently rather than just mislabeling it? If happiness to me relaxes me and makes me more relaxed, and happiness to you energizes and invigorates you,  are they both happiness? Are they both the same state of being that we experience in a different way because of how we have constructed the emotion?

Personally, I would claim that emotions are partly constructed and partly discovered. There are states produced within us from an external reality, but we all process these states and react to them in different ways. For example, people experience love completely differently, but it still is produced by the same chemicals in the brain.

These are just some thoughts, however. If you disagree with me please do so.