Language
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Thomas Reid
Reid, Inquiry & Essays
Bkgrd info (copied fr. Kate)
important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment (18th century)
Presbyterian Minister
age 16, MA from University of Aberdeen
age 21, licensed preacher for Church of Scotland
age 27, entered Ministry
age 54, wrote Inquiry into the Human Mind
he was called to the University of Glasgow to replace Adam Smith as Professor of Moral Philosophy
Common sense = “The most important use of the term “common sense” in R...'s Opinion on Language
"By language I understand all those signs which mankind use in order to communicate to others their thougths and intentions, their purposes and desires." (Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, pg 32)
Types of language
- 1) signs w/ no meaning except that assigned through a previous agreement (artificial)
- 2) signs that are understood by all men through the principles of nature, w/o previous agreement (natural) (ex: modulations of the voice, gestures, features)
Without a natural language, men could never have created an artificial language. Animals have a natural language.