Darwinの言語に対する評
以前の投稿で, Darwinは他者の表現を理解することはヒト固有の能力ではないと考えていることをまとめた.
今回はさらに続けて, 言語の本能性についてみてみたい.
As Horne Tooke, one of the founders of the noble science of philology, observes, language is an art, like brewing or baking; but writing would have been a better simile. It certainly is not a true instinct, for every language has to be learnt. It differs, however, widely from all ordinary arts, for man has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; whilst no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, or write. Moreover, no philologist now supposes that any language has been deliberately invented; it has been slowly and unconsciously developed by many steps.
Darwin (1871)
これを見ると, 言語は本能ではないと述べつつも一般的なartsとは大きく異なると述べている.
つまり, 言語は学習される必要があるものとしていながらも, その特異性は認めていると言えるだろう.
この点はある種の学習説に近いようなまとめ方をしている点が興味深い.
参考文献
- Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man, and Selection in relation to sex. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2300/pg2300-images.html#link2HCH0003