sententialism

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noun

The theory that cognition is based on and can be represented as sentences in mentalese.

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Meanings

nounsententialism (uncountable)
  1. uncountablehuman sciencesThe theory that cognition is based on and can be represented as sentences in mentalese.

    Thinking, according to sententialism, may then be like quoting. To quote an English sentence is to issue, in a certain way, a token of a given English sentence type: […]

    2015, Richard John Kosciejew, The Pursuing Presence of Facts
    1 more example

    Sententialism does not entail that only verbal creatures can enjoy a mental language. Neither does it presuppose that an intelligent creature's language of thought must be its language of communication, […]

    1989, J. Christopher Maloney, The Mundane Matter of the Mental Language, page 111

Origin

From sentential + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sententialism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sententialism

MLA

“sententialism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sententialism. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sententialism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sententialism.

Source: sententialism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.