thought and language is arbitrary, then the implications regarding such philosophical realms of inquiry such as metaphysics are staggering. If language only relates to language, one can fairly say that people think in language, the only thing people are thinking about is language itself. To engage in a rational discourse about God or beauty or truth is only to engage in a discourse about the language people use to describe certain other words.
The two opposing views in this area were articulated best by Lev Vygotsky, in his book Thought and Language:
A look at the results of former investigations of thought and language will show that all the theories offered from antiquity to our time range between identification, or fusion, of thought and speech on one hand, and their equally absolute, almost metaphysical disjunction and segregation on the other (Vygotsky 2).
This theory regarding language and thought is best known through the works of Ferdinand De Saussure and Jacques Derrida, who together have greatly influenced modern philosophical thought regarding this issue in the development of Deconstructionism. De Saussure fired the opening shot, as he began investigating the relationship of meaning, words, and signs. His search led him to the conclusion that the world of language can roughly be divided into three separate elements. First, one has the sign, which is the object itself. Signs are the corporeal, tangible items that make up the world. Second, one has the signified, which is roughly analogous to the Platonic ideal: in Greek, the Eidos. These are the ideal forms: not this chair, but the perfect chair. Finally, one has the signifier, the sound-image that one uses to identify the sign.
In normal discourse, one assumes that the three have a logical and essential relationship to one another. Common discourse takes place within a strictly codified structure, in which a specific word stands in place for a specific thought...