Leibniz and 18th-century Philosophy of Language

Leibniz’s work on language left a lasting impression on 18th-century philosophical thinking about language. His two major works that discussed natural language were both published in the 18th century and in these works Leibniz focused on the sound symbolism, phonology, and etymology of language, topics that played a major role for 18th-century philosophers of language. These topics belonged to what Leibniz considered the material aspects of language and were tied to the expressive powers of language. Herder acknowledged Leibniz’s influence and developed these ideas in his account of language as a forceful expression of human feeling. However, Herder ignored the formal components of language. The philosopher who developed the synthesis of the material and the formal features of language was Wilhelm von Humboldt, who drew from 18th-century thinkers that saw natural language as a unity of force and form, for example Sulzer and Harris. Humboldt was especially influenced by his tutor, Johann Jakob Engel, whose lectures drew on Leibniz as well as works in the Leibniz-Wolff tradition.

Bibliography

Abbreviations of Leibniz Works:

• A = Sämtliche Schriften und Briefe, hrsg. von die Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Darmstadt and Berlin, Akademie Verlag 1923-
• L = Philosophical Papers and Letters, ed. and trans. by L. Loemker, Dordrecht, Kluwer 1970².
• GP = Die philosophischen Schriften von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, hrsg. von C. I. Gerhardt, 7 Bde, Berlin, Weidmann 1875-1890.

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• Wolff, C. 1963. Preliminary Discourse on Philosophy in General, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill.