Feb 10, 2021
Signification in Artificial Languages in Early Modern European Thought
- 12:00 to 13:30
- Reading Group
- Max Planck Research Group (Premodern Sciences)
- Maria Avxentevskaya
This session will be led by Maria Avxentevskaya and we will discuss the following sources:
1. Excerpts from John Wilkins, An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language, London: Printed for Sa: Gellibrand, and for John Martyn, printer to the Royal Society, 1668. Chapter I “The Proposal of one kind of Real Character,” 385-394; Chapter III “How this Real Character may be made effable in a distinct Language,” 414-420; and a part of Chapter IV “An Instance of the Philosophical Language,” 421-426.
2. Rhodri Lewis, “The Same Principle of Reason: John Wilkins and Language,” in John Wilkins (1614-1672): New Essays, ed. William Poole, Leiden: Brill, 2017, 182-198.
Contact and Registration
Please note that this event series will take place on Zoom and thus pre-registration is required. All reading materials will be circulated one week in advance. For more information and registering please contact Maria Avxentevskaya.
About This Series
The series of reading sessions "The Premodern History of Signification: Putting Experiences into Words, Images, and Signs" explores how the premodern experiences of the natural world were expressed, recorded, and communicated through verbal, visual, and semiotic means. By analyzing the premodern theorizing and practices concerning signification we aim to clarify how diverse views on it as an intellectual, cognitive, and performative process affected the production of knowledge in the premodern world. The group will meet online in November 2020 to February 2021 and discuss the primary sources suggested and introduced at each session by the group participants specializing in historical areas from classical to premodern traditions up to the eighteenth century on a global scale.