“Let us consider how many ideas we owe to the use of speech; how much grammar exercises and facilitates the operations of the mind; let us, besides, reflect on the immense pains and time that the first invention of languages must have required: let us add these reflections to the preceding; and then we may judge how many thousand ages must have been requisite to develop successively the operations, which the human mind is capable of producing” (Rousseau 99).
This peaked my interest because of the underlying truth in it. Rousseau was right when he said how difficult it must have been when the first languages were developed, and how far we have come. I have thought about this before; how did it start, what was the baseline, how did we get here, etc, so when I read what Rousseau wrote it immediately caught my attention.
Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality of Mankind focuses on the three topics of humanity, language, and inequality, but the quote shown above focuses toward language and some humanity. Rousseau wrote how language migrated from region to region, specifically from the southern regions to northern regions. He also wrote how it’s a foundation and an establishment that had emotional power rather than rational persuasion. Rousseau was very concerned with language in a way that he shared his meanings and discourse of it and how it is key to making freedom, authority, and virtue compatible.
This can raise the question of where would we be today as a society without language and humanity. Since this particular quote did not necessarily revolve around inequality, we focus on the question that if it weren’t for the languages and how it was applied, migrated, and has grown then we would not be at the same place we are today as a whole. It raises the question of what exactly do we owe for how far we have come as a society with language and where would we be without the set limitations, boundaries, and authority that has arose from it? A question we can bring in about inequality is that if it weren’t for language and the communications through humanity, how much worse would inequality be? How would we deal with all of the problems in the world today and how would they be addressed?
Hi Izabel,
I can’t even imagine the damage that inequality would have if the use of communication and language were not prevalent in society. It is definitely interesting to think about the baseline of language and the journey of it. However, it is a little scary to think about when Rousseau describes some of the negative uprisings that communication and language have brought to society in regards to levels of hierarchy. What was your take on the actions performed by these men due to the growing competition in society? Do you think they could have been controlled and managed if they used communication in a more positive way?
Hi,
I’ve also questioned how language really started and where we would be without a definite source of communication like it. I think without language and communication, humans would not have developed as much as we have today. Even if people made innovative technology, like the telephone, the person who discovered it could not share the knowledge with others as clearly if there were no language. Talking and communicating is what makes humans so much more advanced than other mammals.