Incommensurability vs Linguistic Relativity

Abstract

The study poses the question about the consequences of incommensurability for the problem of linguistic relativity. One can reasonably argue that if two languages are incommensurable, contradiction cannot exist between the judgments formulated inside them. Therefore it is possible to compile linguistic worldviews of two incommensurable languages into one coherent cognitive perspective. The latter view is called into question; hence the article examines the problem of relation between linguistically determined incommensurable worldviews. In order to analyze the issue there are distinguished three dimensions of incommensurability: linguistic incommensurability, incommensurability of experience and ontological incommensurability. Conclusion excludes possibility of compilation of two ontologically incommensurable into one coherent cognitive perspective.