An essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language
著者
書誌事項
An essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language
(Works in the history of language)
Thoemmes Press, 2002
大学図書館所蔵 全12件
  青森
  岩手
  宮城
  秋田
  山形
  福島
  茨城
  栃木
  群馬
  埼玉
  千葉
  東京
  神奈川
  新潟
  富山
  石川
  福井
  山梨
  長野
  岐阜
  静岡
  愛知
  三重
  滋賀
  京都
  大阪
  兵庫
  奈良
  和歌山
  鳥取
  島根
  岡山
  広島
  山口
  徳島
  香川
  愛媛
  高知
  福岡
  佐賀
  長崎
  熊本
  大分
  宮崎
  鹿児島
  沖縄
  韓国
  中国
  タイ
  イギリス
  ドイツ
  スイス
  フランス
  ベルギー
  オランダ
  スウェーデン
  ノルウェー
  アメリカ
注記
Reprint from the 1668 edition
"An alphabetical dictionary, wherein all English words according to their various significations, are either referred to their places in the philosophical tables, or explained by such words as are in those tables" ([157] p. at end) has special t.-p.
内容説明・目次
内容説明
John Wilkins, Bishop of Chester (1614-72), was a founding member of the Royal Society and one of the most influential thinkers of the 17th century. His masterpiece, "An Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language", is a key text in the history of language. Ready for publication in January 1666 but destroyed by the Great Fire, the work finally published in 1668 is Wilkins's attempt at creating a universal language. Wilkins maintained that because all people's minds functioned in the same way and had a similar "apprehension of things", it should be possible to cultivate a rational universal language and a character that would also articulate things and notions. Not only would they aid international scientific communication and commerce, but "prove the shortest and plainest way for the attainment of real Knowledge, that hath been yet offered to the World". Although Wilkins's universal language was never adopted for common use (and he never regarded the work as complete), it was widely considered to be superior to the earliest work by George Dalgarno, "Ars signorum" (1661).
The first portion of the "Essay" focuses on an examination of the origins, change, adoption and diffusion of languages and alphabets. The second portion contains his "Universal Philosophy" classification system, with tables of animals, birds, fishes and plants drawn up by the two great naturalists, Francis Willoughby and John Ray. It was widely considered that the botanical and biological classifications were superior to any yet available, greatly advancing the creation of a scientific nomenclature. The work inspired John Ray to revise his own system. Appended to the "Essay" is an alphabetical dictionary which lists English words, their symbols in the real character, and references to their proper place in the classification. Some of the greatest minds of the 18th century received Wilkins's creation enthusiastically: John Locke recommended the "Essay" over Dalgarno's work; Newton mentioned the book in his correspondence; Erasmus Darwin admired it; and the anthropologist Lord Monboddo praised it in his "Origin and Progress of Language".
The "Essay" continued to attract widepsread attention in the 19th and 20th centuries: Roget, author of the ever popular "Thesaurus", articulated his indebtedness to Wilkins, and based his classifications on Wilkins's system. Wilkins's treatment of the alphabet and phonetics were regarded as authoritative for many generations after his death, and in recent times the work has come to the attention of those interested in the development of symbolic logic and semantics. The work, reprinted here in its original size, is a valuable text for all scholars concerned with the history of language and science.
「Nielsen BookData」 より