Neuroscience could not exist without language. Language existed well before neuroscience. It is asserted that communities of interest engage in shared projects of enquiry and draw upon a shared lexicon to articulate propositions, to describe phenomena, and to discriminate novel ways of speaking about phenomena that come from available means of exchange in language. Language speaks us. This paper is a challenge to neuroscientists to conceptualize language not as a function of the brain or as a capacity of the brain. Rather to develop a neuroscience not centred on the notion of the individual but centred in the ancient primacy of language before humanity, as language is a species-specific characteristic of homo sapiens. Individualism is a nineteenth century philosophy of human experience that promotes competition, not collaboration with shared purposes, that presents the possibility of environmental and military catastrophe. The language of neuropsychiatry has created a new body: the neurochemical body.  This body is detached from others. In contrast, the locating of a person within the discourse of humanity, via language, is the core of psychotherapy.

Jolyon Grimwade, PhD, has a deep interest in clinical practice with adults, children, couples, and families and how all such work is mediated through language. He is also very interested in the history of ideas especially with respect to mental health. He has published eleven papers on clinical practice (eating disorders, neurodivergence, work with families, psychodynamics) and three book chapters. This research was undertaken as part of the normal work with Change Consultations and was self-funded. The author is a private practitioner. Contribution was not made by anybody else. The ideas were nurtured by employment with Victoria University and the Cairnmillar Institute. The author was president of not-for-profit family mental health advocacy organization: Mental Health for the Young and their Families (Victorian group) (MHYFVic) from 2011 to 2025.