Questions - 9781421447148

QuestionsBrief Books about Big Ideas\nAuthor(s): Pia Lauritzen\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, United States\nImprint: Johns Hopkins University Press\nISBN-13: 9781421447148, 978-1421447148\nSynopsis\nA short but engaging look at how questions shape our thinking.\n\nWhy do we ask questions? In Questions, Pia Lauritzen explores the philosophy behind questions and probes how they function as both a development tool and a bridge to understanding. She speculates that the question is the essential characteristic that distinguishes human beings from animals and that it is the key to understanding why we think and act as we do. Basic human phenomena like surprise and doubt, ignorance and curiositywhich all articulate a questioning mode of dealing with the worldmay well be the reason why human beings developed language. Yet the diverse ways that different languages and cultures treat questions reflects and reinforces crucial cultural differences. Ultimately, La.