is speech useless

Speech does more than transmit information — it helps make us who we are. First, speaking publicly expresses our beliefs, feelings, and intentions; this disclosure both reveals inner states and invites others’ responses, situating those states within a social context. Wittgenstein’s picture of language as embedded in “forms of life” shows that meaning and mental-state ascription depend on shared linguistic practices: to speak is already to participate in a network of recognition and understanding (Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations). Second, selfhood is dialogical: identity emerges through articulation and recognition. Charles Taylor argues that the moral and personal horizon within which we form commitments is linguistic and intersubjective — we become selves by expressing commitments, testing them against others, and being answered (Taylor, Sources of the Self). Speech therefore does constitutive work: it locates us in moral space, allows endorsement or revision of attitudes, and makes us accountable agents. Together, these points yield a compact claim: expression via speech is not merely ornamental or informational; by publicly articulating mental states and participating in linguistic practices of recognition, speech helps constitute identity and agency. References: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations; Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self.