ABSTRACT
Looking at culture as a set of mechanical devices which intrinsically imply tradition and co-operation, it is seen that the artifact submits man to its direct technological determinisms. The modern material apparatus of a culture implies an enormous concentration of power in the hands of a small group or of one man. Freedom of speech therefore is the prerequisite of the freedom of action. And the science of semantics is that vigilance which is the price of freedom of thought. Language is primarily an instrument of action and influences profoundly human behavior. It is essentially inadequate in its hypostatizing function. It also plays an important role as a means of coercion. The pragmatic power of words is found chiefly in the dynamism of words in magic, in the systems of disciplinary drill, and in the orders and instructions given in the carrying out of organized activities. In words of command, the power of language affects profoundly the course of action.
