Rating: 
Summary: Five stars isn't enough!!! This book changes live!!!
Review: Hayakawa did it again. Back at Berkley and in the present. This in depth analysis of natural selection, and generally unrecognized use of language has changed my life!! The philosophy of science is discussed with references to Plato and Aristotle. That isn't all though!! Personal relationships can be turned inside out after reading this one. Apply the principles and read it fifty times!!! Where has Bessie been all these years?? Hayakawa will tell you! How does the nervous system create representations that we can identify?? No fear!! It's all there....enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: Rethink your outlook - I did
Review: I first regarded this book as a standard explanation of language, I was pleasently suprised. Hayakawa addresses the many aspects of language in a fresh and informative manner. Also, he remains very objective the entire time, giving advice as well. After reading it I feel as if I have a much clearer understanding of my language, how it is used, and its strengths and weaknesses.
Rating: 
Summary: An Evil Book
Review: I realized in the course of inhaling this book, that a basic grounding in semantics is one of the most important tools available to us, because with it, we can size people up and analyze what they say with and ease and acumen; and even more importantly, we can learn to express ourselves with skill and diplomacy. Haykawa writes in an engaging and non-pedantic style as he verses us in vital concepts, the use of which, make engaging in discourse so much more meaningful, instructive, and revealing than before: concepts such as the abstraction ladder, the two-value perspective (I'm right and you're wrong), sloganeering, tunnel vision etc. Perhaps the most valuable lesson of the book is what Hayakawa terms "the blocked mind", wherein a person lumps people together as "jews", "women", "communists", "democrats", "blacks", "Arabs", "homosexuals" or whatever, with no regard to their differences. By showing us a new way of thinking, not lumping people together as for instance, "jews", but respecting all people according to their individuality, we can see from the following list in the book, that such labels are mere reflections of the paranoid minds who purvey them. All of the following wildly diverse human beings are or were, "jews": Albert Einstein, Sandy Koufax, Jascha Heifetz, Benny Goodman, Woody Allen, Henry Kissinger and Kitty Dukakas. I have already purchased a copy of "Science and Sanity" by Alfred Korzybski referred to often by Hayakawa, and look forward to deepening my understanding of this vital area of knowledge which has been so gracefully and skillfully dispensed to me via this book.
Rating:
Summary: Must reading
Review: If you are in to thinking things out for yourself, this book is basic amunition to shoot down the demigogues, idealogues, and other ogers attempting to steal your discrimination.
Rating:
Summary: The book itself is Propaganda
Review: If you like to know the definition and segmentation regarding linguistics, not the meaning and influence of language. Then this book is for you. Elaboration on symbolization, on context and connotation, on three parts on understanding - verifiability/inferences/judgments... etc. Unfortunately, those segmentation is merely for easy to analyze language and not grip language itself. Besides, take every arguments by granted, rather than convincing examples or comparsion. Pop books, like Steven Pinker's books.
Recommedation:
1. The new rhetoric by Perelman
2. Aristotle
You might not like their ideas on langauage, however, their wisdom are quite inspiring and helpful for your understanding of this field.
Rating:
Summary: Why should I care about semantics?
Review: It's been said that language is what differentiates humans from the apes. But why language? Why not hawaiian shirts? Senator Hayakawa's short book explains why language, and particularly meaning, is so important. It stands alone on its own merits, or as an elegant frame to the debate addressed in Korzybski's monolithic 1933 work, _Science and Sanity._Ever been in an argument? Ever get hot and bothered, maybe even start shouting, until you eventually realize that your disagreement is over the definition of terms? And did you ever stop to consider that there might be more than two sides to every story - maybe an infinite number? Come along as Hayakawa examines these issues in great detail. The style of the book is so lucid, you'll almost feel as if you're being reminded of things you've always known. Does the book reveal universal truth? Or maybe just a skillful command of language? I recommend this to any human who uses language to communicate or think. You'll never look at Hillary Clinton's "politics of meaning" the same way again.
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Summary: Required reading for anyone who uses language, e.g., you.
Review: Like a previous reviewer, I was required to read this book for an English class, and also like that reviewer I re-discovered it a few years back. Senator Hayakawa's main point is that, since it is language we humans use in order to think, and since language has such an extraordinary power to influence others and ourselves, we should pay heed to how we use it and how we interpret it. In *Language in Thought and Action* Hayakawa discusses ways of better understanding language, and therefore thought, and therefore action, including the use of the "operational definition" and the need to recognize different levels of abstraction. His essay comparing literature and advertising is, all by itself, worth the price of the book. You'll never again be so smug about your pronouncements or those of others after reading about two-valued logic versus the multi-valued orientation. You'll learn why the words, "Tell me more" can make a difference to you. I like this book so much I decided to mail several copies to people I know as surprise gifts, along with a letter explaining my enthusiasm for it. If you use language, if you think, if you act, you should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Language is a sophisticated noise used in a delusional world
Review: Mr. Hayakawa's book expounds on his theory, influenced by the ideas of Alfred Korzybski, that language springs forth as a result of the inherent human tendenancy towards co-operation. He also elaborates on how people are deluded until they understand that words are just symbols used to approximate an experience. An empowering book that will help you filter all those words bombarding your mind.
Rating:
Summary: Hayakawa was brilliant.
Review: S.I. Hayakawa was an insightful thinker about language. His explanation of the connection between language, meaning and culture have been enormously helpful to me as a writer. I recommend this book highly to anyone who thinks seriously about language.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Disappointment
Review: The 5th edition of "Language in Thought and Action" is not the book that S.I. Hayakawa wrote in the forties. It is an impotent, edited-for-television, politically correct version of the brilliant original for which publisher and editors should be ashamed. For anyone who cares about language and its uses, I recommend that you track down the 1st edition. It's still around. Rowan Wolf
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