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The Conjectural History of Language in the Scottish Enlightenment The Conjectural History of Language in the Scottish Enlightenment By Christopher H. Badenoch Department of History Submitted in partid fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Faculty of Graduate Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario September, 1999 @ ~hristopher& Badenoch, 1999 National Library BiiliaWque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliognphiques 395 Weflington Street 395. rue Wdingtm Otrawa ON KIA ON4 OtrawaON K1AONQ Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde me licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distri'bute or sell reproduire, priiter, districbuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/iih, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheMrise de celle-ci ne doivent &e imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation, ABSTRACT This thesis examines the secular conjectural histories of language offered by the men of the Scottish Enlightenment. The institutional nature of language led the Scots philosophers to approach language from a historical perspective, rather than the merely genetic method pursued by purely analytical commentators on the operations of the mind- The historical approach allowed them to draw on a wide conceptual framework that brought envimnrnental, social and temporal contexts to bear on the science of human nature- The thesis follows the development of thought on language fiom Locke to the early decades of the nineteenth century, highiighting the empiricist and secular points of view from which writers from England, France and especially Scotland, pursued the questions of the origin and development of language. The thesis begins with an Introduction that defines '%onjectural history" as it was applied to the study of language in the eighteenth century, and briefly discusses the subject's relevant historiography. Chapter One examines John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) and its implications for the study of language and conjectural history in the eighteenth century Chapter Two illustrates the way two French writers, Etieme Bonnot de Condillac, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, examined the topic of language fmm a conjectural historical point of view. It highlights the manner in which they articulated the problems that subsequent explanations of the origin of language would need to overcome, Chapter Three examines the conjectural history of language as philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment practised it It argues that the empirical docvines of Locke, Berkeley and Hume formed the philosophical context for the Scottish conjectural histories of language, and that Scots philosophers were also influenced by the writings of Condillac and Rousseau. This chapter stresses that Scots philosophers made connections between language, mind, and society while approaching the conjecnual history of language fiom varying secular points of view. The thesis concludes by considering the body of research as a whoIe, and by noting the contribution this study has made to the historiography of the Scottish Enlightenment. KEYWORDS: language, conjectural history, philosophy, Enlightenment, Scotland, France, secular, empiricism. Dedication To my mother, Sharon Anne Badenoch Acknowledgements I have received much help from friends and family over my years at UWO and I would like to use a few words to thank these people. First, my father and mother for encouraging me to pursue my dreams and interests and for lending much needed material support on occasion. My sister Amy deserves thanks for taking care of business in Toronto while I was absorbed in the final stages of the thesis. Luke and Kevin helped me through this demanding year by keeping my assignments in perspective as only housemates can. I would like to tank Catherine for her understanding and willingness to partake in the same conversation for what must have seemed like weeks at a time. I would Wre to give special thanks to my advisor Roger Emerson for his patience in attending to my questions, and for the discerning and sincere attention he has given to my work and my general education over the past several years at UWO. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE Locke and the 'Historical, plain Method' Applied to 9 bguage CHAPTER TWO Condillac and Rousseau: Empiricism and the Obstacles 44 to Conjectural Origins CHAPTER THREE Scots Philosophers and the Conjectural-Historicd 69 Study Of Language CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY VITA Introduction In an essay read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 21 January and 18 March, 1793 '. Dugdd Stewart discussed the notion of "ZJzeoreticalor Conjectural History", terms he may have coined. As Stewart noted, conjectural histories had served a valuable intellectual function for Enlightenment philosophers engaged in the study of a wide range of philosophical topics2 'When, in such a period of society as that in which we live, we compare our intellectual acquirements, our opinions, manners, and institutions, with those which prevail among rude tribes, it cannot faii to occur to us as an interesting question. by what gradual steps the transition has been made from the tint simple efforts of uncultivated nature, to a state of things so wonderfuily artificial and cornplicated"(Stewart Works, 10: 33). To trace the history of a human institution in this manner involved using conjectures about the invariability of man's nature, for example, to fill the gaps in the historical record. Often travel reports and diaries supplied the philosopher with empirical testimony about primitive peoples at various stages of civilization. The levels of civilization cultures had achieved then served to construct a temporal scale of societies evolving in increasingly complex ways. The philosopher believed that when he observed a contemporary society at a particular state of civilization, he could use that culture as the living record of a society that had existed at a comparable level of civilization some time in the distant and unknown past. While the information contained in the accounts of contemporary primitive societies was often disjointed and insignificant on its own, the conjectural historian could supplement it with the principles of human nature that he had formed through the processes of introspection and reflection. Together, the data collected from primitive societies and the philosopher's speculations could form the basis for important discoveries about human nature and society. The conjectural historical method involved the philosopher in an empirical and deductive procedure that proposed to clarify the principles of human nature. It is significant that Stewart explained the conjectural historical method before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and in the context of an account of the life and writings of one of the Scottish Enlightenment's most important intellectuals, Adam Smith. Conjectural histories were a characteristic feature of the Scottish Enlightenment's and Smith's own, secular approach to epistemology and methodology. To give a secular explanation was to attribute the origins and development of a given phenomenon to natural, and not divine causes3 Among the many uses to which Scots philosophers applied this fundamentally secular method of inquiry, was the explanation of the origin and development of Nearly all those Scots philosophers who conjectured about the history of language aimed to illustrate how man. left to his natural faculties, could have invented language. Most believed that the creation and development of language was an essential feature of man's progress from primitive to polite society. The explanation of its origin therefore, would give philosophers both an understanding of the principles of human nature and of the formation of society. With that knowledge they could attempt to understand their own societies and those primitive ones they encountered abroad, Scots philosophers believed that language and its history offered them a window open to the operations of the mind. In this light, the prospect of locating the origin of Ianguage, even if it was only hypothetical, seemed to promise an understanding of the nature of and the operation of the mind. I€ the Scots philosophers could show, according to what they believed were the principles of human aature, how all the various parts of language might gradually have arisen, they would have shown the order in which the mind's faculties had developed and the principles by which they operated. Thus, when Scots philosophers applied the conjectural historical method to the study of language, they were engaged in the wider Enlightenment endeavour of establishing the nature of man and society with reasonable, empirical and secular arguments. In the past twenty or more years, numerous scholars across North America and Europe have shown renewed interest in the history of linguistics. Two scholarly journals in particular have devoted themselves to promoting and exploring this relatively new academic field: Although many of the existing
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