Introduction to topiCS Volume 15, Issue 4.

The article focuses on the ongoing debate surrounding the Principle of Linguistic Relativity, which proposes that the language one speaks influences thought processes. Tracing its origins from 19th-century German Romanticism to the work of early 20th-century ethno-linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, the principle has been controversial within cognitive science, initially rejected but reconsidered since the 1990s. The current issue of Topics in Cognitive Science centers on a target article by linguist David Kemmerer, who supports linguistic relativity through the Grounded Cognition Model, accompanied by diverse commentaries from scholars across multiple disciplines and continents. The issue aims to foster constructive dialogue rather than resolve the debate, inviting further contributions from the research community.