REVIEW ARTICLE - Linguistics, Anthropology and Philosophy in the French Enlightenment (Robert E. Norton's Tr from German [see abstract of review in this issue])

A review of Ulrich Ricken's Linguistics, Anthropology and Philosophy in the French Enlightenment (London: Routledge, 1994). This English translation by Robert E. Norton of Ricken's German book is deemed especially useful in that it covers a number of subjects by Ricken that have appeared previously in French & German. The first section covers the background of French Enlightenment ideals, particularly Cartesianism & scholastic logic. The second & longer part of Ricken's book emphasizes that the unified conception of language formulated in the eighteenth century accommodates both epistemology & aesthetics. A detailed explanation is given of Etienne Condillac's argument that the origin of language from speech (vs mental language) began with acts of spontaneous expression of emotive states of mind by vocal gestures. Also examined is John Locke's idea that culture is reflected in language, making direct translations between languages not entirely possible. This belief in mutual interdependence of language & culture is viewed as having provided a legitimate foundation for anthropological understanding of language. It is suggested that Ricken's treatment of linguistics, anthropology, & philosophy in the eighteenth century may serve as a corrective to old notions still taken as conventional wisdom by the Anglophone world. 16 References. M. Dinh