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 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1007/s11299-025-00319-y via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Inner speech—the silent, internal dialogue we have with ourselves—is reconceived as a patterned form of thinking that emerges from social and embodied experience. The authors reinterpret Vygotsky's idea of internalization, arguing it is not a simple transfer of external norms but a developmental process that reorganizes mental structures. Drawing on 4E cognitive science and phenomenology, they propose that inner speech arises within a newly constituted inner space, shaped by bodily, affective, and symbolic resources. This account emphasizes how linguistic practices structure the mind and influence how individuals interpret and act in the world.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Inner speech emerges as a patterned form of thinking within an inner mental space shaped by embodied and social interactions, rather than being a simple transfer of external norms. |
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.