Toward a patterned theory of inner speech: rethinking Vygotsky through 4E cognition and phenomenology
J. Colelli, M. di Bernardo, F. Verde
Mind & Society April 30, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s11299-025-00319-y (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Linguistics |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Proposes that inner speech emerges within a newly constituted inner space of the mind shaped by embodied and social interactions, and that phenomenology offers descriptive tools to trace its patterned forms. |
Abstract
This article lays the groundwork for a patterned theory of inner speech by rethinking Vygotsky’s notion of internalization in light of 4E cognitive science and phenomenology. We begin by revisiting Vygotsky’s view of linguistic development as a dynamic and socially mediated process of transformation, central to the formation of subjectivity. Rather than treating internalization as a simple transfer of external norms, we focus on it as a developmental process that mediates the reorganization of the agent’s intra-psychic structures. This reorganization is understood as affecting the functional architecture of the mind, involving both cognitive and non-cognitive capacities—such as bodily, affective, and symbolic resources—integrated within intentional activity. Building on this reinterpretation, we critically engage with the 4E paradigm, highlighting how enactive and extended approaches often leave underexplored the internal structuring effects of linguistic practices. To address this, we propose that phenomenology offers the appropriate descriptive tools to trace the emergence of patterned forms of inner speech as they are lived and experienced. To address this, we propose that phenomenology offers the appropriate descriptive tools to trace the emergence of patterned forms of inner speech as they are lived and experienced. Inner speech, in this view, emerges within a newly constituted inner space of the mind—a structural feature of intentional experience that is shaped by embodied and social interactions, while also shaping how the agent interprets, evaluates, and acts in the world.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 5
- The Enactive Conception of Life The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition October 9, 2018
- Gesture, meaning, and intentionality: from radical to pragmatist enactive theory of language Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences September 23, 2023
- The Circularity of the Embodied Mind. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology Psychological Bulletin May 25, 2015
- The Phenomenological Mind December 22, 2007