Italian philosophy of language

Abstract

In this paper the distinctive characteristics of the Italian philosophy of language (IPL) are delineated. It is not only Italian philosophers who have constructed such a philosophical tradition. The Italian philosophy of language has a long history (a tradition which probably began with Dante); it is based on a very broad and comprehensive concept regarding the nature of human language. In respect to other traditions of philosophy of language (mainly Anglo-American analytic philosophy, hermeneutics and semiotics, and critical theory), the Italian tradition considers language to be at the same time a natural and a social phenomenon. From this point of view, the basic theoretical source of IPL is an 'anthropological stance'. But it is worth stressing that in the IPL, the conception of human biology includes ideas from anthropology, sociology, psychology (and perhaps psychoanalysis as well). Therefore when an IPL philosopher speaks of 'language' s/he refers to this broad and stratified field of phenomena. Exactly in this sense, IPL connects itself to the very peculiar Italian political and intellectual history. Following Wittgenstein, the IPL slogan could be this one: to study a language means to study a form of life, that is, at the same time a biological entity (a life) and a sociohistorical one (a form).