Original scientific paper
Bottura's theory of language
Heda Festini
Abstract
The book Idealogia (Venice, 1832) by P. Bottura, a philosopher of Zadar, contains a 'theory of languages' (la teoria delle lingue), which is partly a philosophical grammar, and partly concerned with the problems about the origin and evolution of languages. The first problem was the task of our previous paper, and here it will be shown to what extent his development of the latter problems is current, which is not included in the ordinary sense of the term 'theory of language'. Bottura modestly thought that he dealt with the subject in the manner of the epicurein philosophers and the greater part of Italian, English and German philosophers. However de didn't often mention his predecesors, except Platon, twice Locke; Condillac arid Vico are mentioned in other of Bottura's papers in connection with other questions. Though there were visible influences of Locke, Condillac, Vico and earlier philosophers such as Bacon and Hobbes, Botturam was in his sintesis original enough and his work is of some consequence.
Our analysis is guided by a threefold division of theories of language- naturalistic, conventionalistic and instrumentalistic. And it is supported by the polemics against Brinkmann's emphasis of the importance of Lambert's (1764) conception for Herder and Humboldt, and even for the modern philosophers such as are Peirce, Cassirer, Morris and Eco. It also employs a great number of comparisons with modern linguistic views, such as those of Chomsky, Hjemslev, Abbagnano, Rosiello, Popper, Land, Robins, Ivić etc.
Integrateing the theses of Ockham, Bacon, Locke, Leibniz, Wolff and Condillac, Bottura distinguished between natural, analogical and conventional Signs. The division of the languages into kinds he also obtained by the inclusion of another important thesis. Bottura divided the languages into 1) action-language, or, the language of gestures (Gondillac, Herder, Peirce, Cassirerr, Witt - genstein), 2) written language (probably through the influence of Bacon and Vico and from the views concerning hieroglyfic language of Schott el and Wolff) and 3) vocal language (where he tried to capture Condillac's naturalistic thesis by conventionalistic theory, prohably influenced by the consequent conventionalism as was Hobbes’s. This stage of language he treated in the manner of Popper the higher stage of articulated voices, which was derived from the lower stage of vocal gestures).
The influence of Locke is clearly visible in Bottura's criticisms of metaphor as is Condillac's connection of language with society. But Bottura departed from the opinion of the theorists in the 18th cent. with bis endeavour to show the origin of language as residing in the analogical indicative gestures and emotional screams as conventional, and not natural products, rooted• in human needs and evolving by induction and repetition. Though not close to romantic views (except to a small extent in his thesis concerning the connection of thought and language) which we're on the ascent and which become so influential later, his theory in some aspects is like contemporary views. It is similar to Peirce's views concerning index, icon and symbol; to Wittgenstein's ostensive definition and to Popper's distinction of the two phases of the evolution of the language (the lower and higher phase). Contrary to many previous theorists he didn't bind the naturalistic and conventionalistic theories of language. He was so thoroughly convincend by Hobbes's arguments for a conventionalistic origin of language and its evolution, that he emphasized the important aspects of the instrumentalistic theory of language (namely, the changeable, intersubjective and symbolic character of language). And choosing the better alternative (between the naturalistic and conventionalistic theories) he bounded the conventionalistic with instrumentalistic theories of language.
So we can think of Bottura, even in relation to the problems of the theory of language, as a model of theorists of both his time and ours.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
89383
URI
Publication date:
7.12.1982.
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