Vertical and horizontal language needs

The author asked the question of how the vertical and horizontal orientation of man manifests itself in his linguistic world. He follows the interpretations of the philosopher P. Sloterdijk and accepts the thesis that man’s activities are governed by his vertical and horizontal needs. He emphasizes that one experiences a vertical need as a need to have access to objective truth as well as a paradigmatic need, that is, the need to discover a pattern for one’s own behavior and action. In contrast, horizontal needs motivate him to concentrate on his own self-realization potential. He then develops the idea that a person also in the language modality has both horizontal and vertical needs and demonstrates how these needs manifest themselves in language communication and then in naming units with special regard to proper names. The interpretation of language communication and naming units from the perspective of these needs led the author to conclude that the fundamental governing factor of language use is the truth.