The language animal The full shape of the human linguistic capacity

The center of gravity of this book is the distinction Taylor (philosophy, McGill Univ.) draws between the "Hobbes-Locke-Condillac" (HLC) theory of language and the "Hamann, Herder, and Humboldt" (HHH) theory, and their subsequent developments. HLC views language primarily in terms of information encoding, and it is primarily designative and instrumentalist, presupposing a Cartesian representational epistemology. The author sees much that is characteristic of HLC as having carried over into "post-Fregean analytic philosophy." HHH, by contrast, denies the priority of information encoding, as it foregrounds the ways in which language constitutes, embodies, and expands a variety of meaning forms that go beyond "simple" linguistic meaning. For example, as Gottlob Frege situates word meaning in the context of the sentence, Taylor situates certain insights/meanings as accessible only in the context of narrative. Art, dress, nonverbal behavior, and metaphor are just a few of the things that receive attention, as Taylor takes them to go beyond the representational. Taylor's exploration of the multifarious ways meanings are constituted, lived, generated, and expanded rewards time spent in this book's pages--not because he is always right, but because of the depth, range, and import of his writing. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --George Wrisley, University of North Georgia

Taylor (philosophy emeritus, McGill Univ., Canada; Sources of the Self) contrasts two theories of language. The first, which he rejects, stems from the ideas of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Étienne Bonnot de -Condillac. The HLC (Hobbes, Locke, Condillac) theory, as Taylor calls it, takes words to describe ideas and objects in the world that exist before they are named. The rival HHH concept, after Johann Georg Hamann, Johann Gottfried Herder, and Wilhelm von Humboldt, stresses the creative sway of language. Words often do not designate what preexists them but rather help call into being the phenomena they designate. Language is expressive, not just descriptive. The HHH theory was integral to the Romantic movement, and Taylor shows its application to music and poetry. The HLC idea has not gone away; Taylor argues that it underlies much of analytic philosophy of language after Gottlob Frege. He criticizes the vastly influential semantic theory of Donald Davidson for its failure to absorb the lessons of HHH, and Robert -Brandom has in his opinion also insufficiently escaped the presuppositions of HLC. Taylor uses his approach to language to challenge both -Humean and Kantian -accounts of ethics. He displays great learning and has an uncanny ability to penetrate to the essence of a position. VERDICT This major work by a philosopher of worldwide reputation will be of great interest to anyone interested in modern philosophy and literature.-David Gordon, -Ludwig von Mises Inst., Auburn, AL © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.