In this thoroughly revised, updated edition of his classic Language in Thought and Action, S.I. Hayakawa discusses the role of language in human life, the many functions of language, and how language - sometimes without our knowing - shapes our thinking. The author writes provocatively about the relationship between language and racial and religious prejudice; about the nature and dangers of advertising, from a linguistic point of view; and, in a completely new chapter called "The Empty Eye," about the content, form, and hidden message of television, from situation comedies to news coverage to political advertising.

In an era when communication has become increasingly diverse and complex, this fifth edition continues to offer insight into the relationship between language and the "talking animal."