Imprisoned in English: The Hazards of English as a Default Language

PART I: Every language draws a circle ... Chapter 1. Introduction: Recognising the contingency of one's own language Chapter 2. Naming the world or construing the world? Chapter 3. The givens of human life Chapter 4. Universal words, semantic atoms and semantic molecules Chapter 5. Human bodies and human minds: what is visible and what is invisible PART II: Emotions and values Chapter 6. Anglo values vs. Human values: Talking about values in a global world Chapter 7. Human emotions and English words: Are anger and disgust universal? PART III: 'Politeness' and 'cooperation' Chapter 8. Talking to other people: 'Politeness' and cultural scripts Chapter 9. Doing things with other people: 'cooperation', 'interaction' and 'obs?enie' PART IV: Entering other minds Chapter 10. Grammar and social cognition: the Hawaiians, the Dalabons, and the Anglos Chapter 11. Endangered languages, endangered meanings Chapter 12. Thinking about 'things' in Yucatec and in English Chapter 13. Chimpanzees and the evolution of human cognition PART V: Breaking down the walls of the prison Chapter 14. From ordinary (Anglo) English to Minimal English PART VI: kindred thinking across disciplines Preliminary remarks Chapter 15. Anthropology, Psychology, Psychiatry Chapter 16. Philosophy, Theology, Politics Chapter 17. Linguistics: Cognitive and cultural approaches Chapter 18. Bilingualism, Life writing, Translation Final remarks References Index