After the publication of Begriffsschrift, a conflict erupted between Frege and Schröder regarding their respective logical systems which emerged around the Leibnizian notions of lingua characterica and calculus ratiocinator. Both of them claimed their own logic to be a better realisation of Leibniz’s ideal language and considered the rival system a mere calculus ratiocinator. Inspired by this polemic, van Heijenoort (1967b) distinguished two conceptions of logic—logic as language and logic as calculus—and presented them as opposing views, but did (...) not explain Frege’s and Schröder’s conceptions of the fulfilment of Leibniz’s scientific ideal. -/- In this paper I explain the reasons for Frege’s and Schröder’s mutual accusations of having created a mere calculus ratiocinator. On the one hand, Schröder’s construction of the algebra of relatives fits with a project for the reduction of any mathematical concept to the notion of relative. From this stance I argue that he deemed the formal system of Begriffsschrift incapable of such a reduction. On the other hand, first I argue that Frege took Boolean logic to be an abstract logical theory inadequate for the rendering of specific content; then I claim that the language of Begriffsschrift did not constitute a complete lingua characterica by itself, more being seen by Frege as a tool that could be applied to scientific disciplines. Accordingly, I argue that Frege’s project of constructing a lingua characterica was not tied to his later logicist programme. (shrink)

In diesem Aufsatz stelle ich mir die Aufgabe, den Einfluß von Leibniz' Idee einer lingua characterica und eines calculus ratiocinator auf Gottlob Freges Projekt einer Begriffsschrift im groben Aufriß auf Grund begrifflicher Parallelen darzulegen.

Two conflicting interpretations of modern axiomatics will be considered. The logico-analytical interpretation goes back to Pasch, while the model-theoretical approach stems from Hilbert. This perspective takes up the distinction between logic as calculus ratiocinator versus lingua characterica that Heijenoort and Hintikka placed emphasis on. It is argued that the Heijenoort-Hintikka distinction can be carried over from logic to mathematical axiomatics. In particular, the model-theoretical viewpoint is deeply connected to a philosophy of mathematics that is not committed to a (...) foundational perspective, but oriented more at applications and at mathematical practice. (shrink)

Frege’s famous definition of number famously uses the concept of “extension”. Extensions, in the Fregean framework, are susceptible to bringing many difficulties, and, some say, even paradoxes. Therefore, neo-logicist programs want to avoid the problems and to replace the classical Fregean definition of number with Hume’s Principle. I argue that this move, even if it makes sense from a computational point of view, is at odds with Frege’s larger philosophical project. For Frege, I claim, extensions were an important part of (...) his philosophical program of logic-as-an-universal-language. This is why Frege places his project in line with Leibniz’ philosophical project of finding a lingua characterica universalis. (shrink)

본고는 라이프니츠의 기호 언어와 그의 세 가지 철학적 구상들의 연관성을 연구한 논문 이다. 라이프니츠는 논리적인 기호 언어가 우리가 진리를 파악할 수 있게 해주는 이성적인 도구이기 때문에 그것을 사용한다면 우리의 학문들이 안전하게 발전할 것이라 믿었다. 이 렇게 볼 때 그의 기호 언어는 학문 전체에 무모순적 진리들을 공급하도록 고안된 보편학의 도구라 할 수 있다. 그리고 진리의 내용은 그것을 표시한 기호들의 의미들에만 의존하기 때문에, 기호들의 일의성을 기반으로 한 그의 기호 언어는 기호들의 조합을 통해 새로운 진리를 발견할 수 있는 새로운 발견법의 토대라 할 수 (...) 있다. 또한 일상 언어의 애매성에서 벗어난 그의 기호 언어는 개념들 간의 내포적 포함 관계와 동일성의 원리에 따라 인간의 추리를 기호 조작을 통해 형식적으로 연산하는 새로운 증명법의 토대이다. (shrink)

The studies on the history of the notion of “personhood” have largely recognized that Christian thought had a central role in the development and significance of this concept throughout the history of Western civilization. In late antiquity, Christianity used some terms taken from the classic and Hellenistic vocabulary in order to express its own theological content. This operation generated a “crisis” of classical language, namely a semantic transformation in the attempt to address some aspects of reality which were not envisioned (...) by the previous usage of these words. The term person is a paradigmatic example of this process. In fact, from the outset, it played a strategic role in formulating the idea of Incarnation, one of the central doctrines of Christianity. This essay aims to show how, during the first centuries of Christianity, the terms commonly used in order to express the notion of “personhood” became pivotal elements for the formulation of the discourse about the Trinity and progressively acquired new meanings. The analysis focuses only on the initial stage of the elaboration of this concept in Christianity and, based on some of the most significant texts, tries to bring out a series of theoretical problems that may be useful to understand the subsequent debate. In order to do so, the author divides the text in two parts. In the first one, he analyses two features strictly connected to the theological use of the term “persona”, which remained central also when this term was later referred to man. These features are individuality and ontological stability, along with the structurally relational status of personhood. In the second part, the author offers more details about the theology of the Cappadocian Fathers, in particular of Basil of Caesarea, and analyses two sectorial languages—mathematical and iconic language—used by Basil in order to describe the intra-trinitarian relationships. (shrink)

Daniele Guastini’s book Immagini cristiane e cultura antica is one of the most significant contributions to the current debate on the role of Christian images. The choice of images made by Christianity since the third century – this is the main thesis of the work – represents one of the generative moments of the long-lasting process of secularization that came to characterize Western culture. This essay aims to discuss this thesis, contextualizing it both from a theological point of view and (...) in relation to its philosophical and cultural-historical significance. I then dwell on two questions more directly related to the interpretation of the Christian image in the first millennium: the relationship that the iconographic practice of the Christian origins has with the Jewish and pagan context, and the role that the interpretation of the “Byzantine turn” plays in the overall structure of the Guastini’s book. (shrink)

Malgré bien des réductions journalistiques, la rationalité économique fondée sur l’idée de l’homo oeconomicus – un individu atome qui maximise son propre intérêt à travers un calcul utilitariste de coûts et de profits – est aujourd’hui l’objet de nombreuses critiques. L’article analyse ainsi deux types de critiques : une critique externe et une critique interne. Les deux soulignent que pour comprendre la rationalité économique, nous avons besoin d’un horizon anthropologique plus vaste, apte à mettre en discussion l’image de l’homme à (...) l’œuvre dans les diverses déclinaisons de l’économie. L’article met alors l’accent sur les recherches de l’anthropologie philosophique portant sur la nature humaine, qui montrent le caractère intrinsèquement relationnel des êtres humains, et peut mettre en discussion l’individualisme méthodologique de l’homo oeconomicus. Finalement, en décrivant la rationalité en termes de rationalité, et en mettant l’accent sur la catégorie de biens relationnels développée par l’approche fondée sur « l’économie sociale », l’article met en avant une façon possible de repenser la rationalité économique. (shrink)

This article examines the creation of words in De Rerum Natura through a close reading of two extended passages concerning the problem of where words come from and what they do. The first is the account of speech production, work entrusted to the daedala lingua in Book 4. This physiological process is mimicked at the phylogenic level in the discussion on the origins of language in Book 5, where voice is first shaped by a body responding to the impact (...) of objects, then by utilitas. The adjective daedalus and the intervention of utilitas both signal, I argue, a shift away from an understanding of language as reaction towards an understanding of language as fabrication, a shift with important implications for the relationship of words to the world they represent. (shrink)

Semantics of natural language; includes some Australian language examples.

It is beliefs of this sort--de linguabeliefs--that Robert Fiengo and Robert May explore in this book.

Este trabalho trata do conceito Exu Diaspórico, o qual foi forjado para lidar com as pesquisas empíricas situadas dentro do quadro teórico da vaga decolonial. Sua concepção está ligada às tradições iorubanas diaspóricas nessa parte do Atlântico Sul onde emergiram outros sistemas resultantes, quer seja de fragmentos e vestígios de narrativas em gestos de memória e resistência, quer seja da tradução realizada pelo outro, muitas vezes, por meio de um processo de carnavalização cultural, que, por sua vez, se deu pela (...) convivência com os bantu, com os povos autóctones e com o colonizador europeu. Este conceito se articula com o conceito de língua-linguagem como encruzilhada apresentado por Araújo (2021a), mas pode ser tomado, ainda, de forma independente. Portanto, trata-se de uma discussão conceitual que visa contribuir com as reflexões e pesquisas decoloniais. O conceito também está a cargo de noções como negritude e Baianidade. Contudo, ele aparece para reunir todas as representações de Exu que resultaram da diáspora negra em meio a um processo de carnavalização das tradições iorubanas em contato com outras culturas e cosmologias. (shrink)

ABSTRACT With this article, we aim to address aspects related to the treatment of languages in the theoretical postulations of two linguists: Ferdinand de Saussure and Émile Benveniste. To do so, we examine selected works by these authors, seeking to discuss-based on evidence-the role they grant to languages in their formulations. The analyses allow us to demonstrate the protagonism of the diversity of languages as one of the points where the two linguists meet, even though there are differences in their (...) approaches. (shrink)

This essay looks at the relationship between formative aesthetics, language and the historical anticipation that begins with Antonio Gramsci's discussion of Kant's idea of noumenon. In Gramsci both education (as formazione) and aesthetics stem from a concern for power in terms of the hegemonic relations that are inherent to history as a political horizon. The title cites Gramci's suggestion that Kant's noumenon should be read as a proviso set apart by a ‘relative ignorance’ of reality [‘relativa ignoranza’ della realtà] to (...) be resolved by a future science. Yet far from another epistemological layering, a future science must also resolve those hegemonic relations of power that emerge from formation as a political act figured in the agonistic character of language as lingua and linguaggio. Further down the lane of our ‘relative ignorance’ we are confronted by a Post-Taylorist condition that precludes any false hopes of a reversal of society's educational, economic and political misfortunes. Yet, while Post-Taylorism confirms that this state of affairs is irreversible, a deeper inquiry into the aesthetic-agonistic character of formation could afford us answers that are in no way solutions but, because adept to struggle and are characteristically aesthetical, might provide an understanding of the logic of irreversibility. Because it remains conscious of its ‘relative ignorance’, this assumption offers a hopeful approach that comes to us sideways; thereby avoiding the predicament of what Lyotard and Thébaud regarded as a condition where ‘the prescriptive is derived from the descriptive’. (shrink)

In his recent book Linguistic Justice for Europe and for the World, Philippe Van Parijs argues in favor of the dissemination of English as the lingua franca. This, however, might entail certain forms of injustice. In the first part of this contribution, the three forms of injustice that Van Parijs discusses are presented along with his three respective solutions to these problems. At the same time, some criticisms on each of these forms are mentioned which have come forth in (...) recent literature. The second part of this paper examines the claim underlying Van Parijs’s book, viz. that it is a good thing to promote English as a common language. According to Van Parijs, this is necessary for developing an egalitarian conception of global justice as well as implementing such a conception. This article scrutinizes both of these arguments which are only briefly touched on in the book. I argue that a lingua franca is not a necessary condition for developing and implementing such an egalitarian conception. I defend this position through a close study of Van Parijs’s conception of deliberative democracy, which is a very demanding one. I show that even in a system of deliberative democracy, a common language is not a necessary condition for developing an egalitarian conception of justice. With reference to the theory of constitutional patriotism, I then argue that common values, rather than a common language, are more important for developing and implementing such a conception. (shrink)

We analyze the connections of Lavoisier system of nomenclature with Leibniz’s philosophy, pointing out to the resemblance between what we call Leibnizian and Lavoisian programs. We argue that Lavoisier’s contribution to chemistry is something more subtle, in so doing we show that the system of nomenclature leads to an algebraic system of chemical sets. We show how Döbereiner and Mendeleev were able to develop this algebraic system and to find new interesting properties for it. We pointed out the resemblances between (...) Leibniz program and Lavoisier legacy, particularly regarding the lingua philosophica for understanding and thinking Nature, in this particular case, chemistry. In the second part we discuss, from the linguistic viewpoint, how Lavoisian algebraic system may be taken further to build a language. We study the constituents of such a chemical language. Finally, we formalize some of the ideas here presented by using elements of network theory and discrete mathematics. (shrink)

La ricerca dell’unità in ambito dottrinale, specchio e strumento dell’unità della Chiesa, è un elemento ricorrente nell’opera di Jean Gerson (1363-1429), rinomato teologo e cancelliere dell’Università di Parigi a cavallo tra il XIV ed il XV secolo. L’insistenza sul concetto di unità è veicolata da una costante riflessione sul ruolo e sui modi della scrittura teologica. Gerson individua precisi metodi e modelli da seguire al fine di spiegare alcune oscurità delle Scritture con chiarezza e precisione e senza rischi per l’integrità (...) della dottrina. Parte fondamentale della riflessione sulla scrittura teologica è la discussione sulla possibilità di usare le lingue volgari, una possibilità che il cancelliere parigino nega in maniera lapidaria, stigmatizzando la confusione linguistica che inevitabilmente conduce non solo all’incomprensione reciproca, ma alla rottura di una corrispondenza tra termini e concetti che affonda le proprie radici in una consolidata e plurisecolare tradizione teologica in latino. Il presente articolo si propone di studiare la riflessione di Gerson sulla lingua, sui metodi e sulla selezione dei modelli nell’ambito della scrittura teologica accademica, nel quadro più ampio della ricerca dell’unità in ambito dottrinale, elemento necessario per perseguire l’unità della Chiesa _tout court_. (shrink)

El concepto de razón que emerge con Vico, y que será análogo al propuesto por Ortega, no es ya el de la razón física y pura, natural y abstracta, sino el de una razón vital e histórica, la cual viene a ejercitarse y expresarse como razón narrativa : aquélla única capaz de comprender "la lingua con cui parla la storia".The concept of reason that emerges with Vico, and that is analogous to the one proposed by Ortega, is not only (...) the one of physical and pure, natural and abstract reason, but rather the one of vital and historic reason, which comes to exercise itself and express itself as narrative reason: that only capacity of comprehension "la lingua con cui parla la storia". (shrink)

Globalization is often discussed as if it were a recent phenomenon relating primarily to the development of world financial markets and improvements in information and travel technologies. But globalization is an ancient process, beginning with mercantile and cultural exchanges and facilitated by advances in transportation. In the twentieth century, the results of globalization can be seen in the rise of global capitalism and in the construction of a global economy. Most recently, the process of globalization has moved beyond the world (...) of finance, however, into areas still traditionally thought of as national concerns, such as culture and healthcare. It is no surprise, therefore, that increasingly the challenges the United States is confronting in healthcare, biotechnology, and the environment are simultaneously faced by the international community as a whole. In the wake of the HIV pandemic, growing environmental consciousness, and a series of sensational advances in biotechnology, there is a dawning realization that problems such as improving public health, regulating advances in biotechnology, and achieving sustainable environmental development transcend national borders. In other words, bioethics concerns are global in nature. (shrink)

R. G. Collingwood saw one of the main tasks of philosophers and of historians of human thought in uncovering what he called the ultimate presuppositions of different thinkers, of different philosophical movements and of entire eras of intellectual history. He also noted that such ultimate presuppositions usually remain tacit at first, and are discovered only by subsequent reflection. Collingwood would have been delighted by the contrast that constitutes the overall theme of the essays collected in this volume. Not only has (...) this dichotomy ofviews been one ofthe mostcrucial watersheds in the entire twentieth-century philosophical thought. Not only has it remained largely implicit in the writings of the philosophers for whom it mattered most. It is a truly Collingwoodian presupposition also in that it is not apremise assumed by different thinkers in their argumentation. It is the presupposition of a question, an assumption to the effect that a certain general question can be raised and answered. Its role is not belied by the fact that several philosophers who answered it one way or the other seem to be largely unaware that the other answer also makes sense - if it does. This Collingwoodian question can be formulated in a first rough approximation by asking whether language - our actual working language, Tarski's "colloquiallanguage" - is universal in the sense of being inescapable. This formulation needs all sorts of explanations, however. (shrink)

Com este trabalho, buscamos refletir e problematizar, numa perspectiva bakhtiniana, e tendo como foco um estudo de caso, como se dá o letramento em língua inglesa, a partir da análise de textos escritos por meio de diários crítico-reflexivos dialogados entre o professor e um licenciando de primeiro período de um Curso de Letras. O diário crítico-reflexivo dialogado é concebido como uma forma de interação verbal entre o professor formador e o professor em-formação, elaborado por este ao final de cada aula. (...) O conteúdo deste diário se refere a uma descrição interpretativa em que o professor em-formação vai descrever, interpretar e relacionar como está vivendo o processo de interação verbal em seus estudos em língua inglesa. Nesse sentido, abordamos noções da arquitetura bakhtiniana, as quais hipotetizamos serem fundadoras desta prática pedagógica em estudo, discutimos analiticamente como o diário crítico-reflexivo, como prática de letramento, pode incidir na formação do (futuro) professor de língua inglesa e, finalmente, relacionamos o referencial teórico bakhtiniano com esta prática dialógica de linguagem traduzida em aspectos metodológicos da/na formação do professor de línguas na universidade. (shrink)

Em _O Anti-Édipo_, especialmente no terceiro capítulo deste livro, Deleuze e Guattari sustentam que a cada máquina social corresponde um regime de representação que se assenta sobre os fluxos de desejo: a máquina territorial primitiva opera por codificação, a máquina imperial despótica, por sobrecodificação, e a máquina civilizada capitalista, por descodificação e axiomatização. Isso faz com que o uso da língua varie historicamente e conforme a formação social. Neste artigo, buscamos caracterizar cada um desses regimes de signos e detalhar o (...) modo como a representação se organiza na superfície de cada um dos tipos de socius. Neste esforço, recorremos por vezes a autores da linguística que inspiraram Deleuze e Guattari, a saber, Saussure e Hjelmslev, no intuito de lançar luz sobre a relação entre língua e socius no âmbito deste livro. (shrink)

Leibniz can be counted among the remote, but still significant, sources of Sellars's philosophy. Such thesis, however, is meaningless unless its conceptual relevance is displayed. Therefore, it will be immediately added that Sellars's relation with Leibniz is focused on three main fundamental issues, which respectively concern (1) the concept of nature, (2) the concept of truth and (3) the concept itself of nominalism. Besides, there are other seemingly minor topics, which actually refers to the definition of abstract entities, of predicates, (...) of proper names and to the datum/factum distinction. Another challenge the paper is faced with, regards the fact that Sellars does not consider Leibniz only in himself, given that he very often positions him in a close relation to Kant: it is as though there were multifaceted issues brought forward by Leibniz and Kant together forming a complex theoretical unity (over and above their differences). According to Sellars, in fact, they both undermine some of the most solid epistemological principles of the early modern times (mainly founded upon the subject- object lexicon and the idea of veritas as adaequatio rei et intellectus) and they both reshape the meaning of expressions such as “being actual” or “being true”. (shrink)