Abstract

This article examines the role of language in Ludwik Fleck’s epistemological work. Two objectives are pursued: Firstly, Fleck’s statements on language scattered throughout his oeuvre are to be systematized and reflected upon. Secondly, the question is asked of which statements of linguists and philosophers from the 19th and 20th centuries can be related to Fleck's work. The basic idea is that Fleck's reflections on thought styles and thought collectives can also be applied to his work to identify possible influences and correlations between Fleck’s remarks on language and those of other philosophers and linguists. Analyzing Fleck's ideas on language and their connections to the theoretical and philosophical considerations of his predecessors reveals his relativistic and deterministic conception of language. According to this conception, language is a central influencing factor in perception and cognition, constitutively bound to its use in thought collectives.