University of Amsterdam, Department of Philosophy, Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, Oude Turfmarkt 145, Postbus 94201, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Stud Hist Philos Sci. 2022 Jun;93:72-81. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2022.03.003. Epub 2022 Mar 27.
This paper analyzes debates on animal language in eighteenth-century German philosophy and science. Adopting a history of ideas approach, I explain how the study of animal language became tied to the investigation into the origin and development of language towards the end of the eighteenth century. I argue that for large parts of the eighteenth century, the question of the existence of animal languages was studied within the context of the philosophical question of whether animals possess reason. In Germany, the debate concerning animal reason was influenced by Christian Wolff and was taken up by diverse thinkers such as Winkler, Meier, and Reimarus. I argue that in the second half of the eighteenth century the study of animal language became more loosely related to the question of whether animals possess reason: animal language was studied not only in light of the debate on animal reason but also because it sheds light on the nature of animals, on the differences and similarities between animals and humans, and on the origin and development of language. This systematic study of animal language coincided with the rise of linguistics, anthropology, and biology as independent sciences.
本文分析了 18 世纪德国哲学和科学领域关于动物语言的争论。通过思想史的研究方法，我解释了在 18 世纪末期，动物语言的研究是如何与语言起源和发展的调查联系在一起的。我认为，在 18 世纪的大部分时间里，动物语言的存在问题是在哲学上探讨动物是否具有理性的问题的背景下进行研究的。在德国，关于动物理性的争论受到了克里斯蒂安·沃尔夫的影响，并被温克勒、迈尔和雷马克等不同的思想家所接受。我认为，在 18 世纪后半叶，动物语言的研究与动物是否具有理性的问题的关系变得更加松散：动物语言的研究不仅是基于动物理性的争论，而且因为它揭示了动物的本质，揭示了动物与人类之间的差异和相似之处，以及语言的起源和发展。这种对动物语言的系统研究与语言学、人类学和生物学作为独立学科的兴起相吻合。
