Beginning with Campanella's Del senso delle cose e della magia, this paper offers a summary view of the issue of animal language from ca. 1550 to 1637 when Descartes' Discours de la méthode was published. It summarizes three philosophical orientations: the concept of vis aestimativa developed by Thomas Aquinas and followers (animal mind and communication is a matter of instinct); the naturalistic position based on Aristotle's biological works and on Plutarch and Porphyrius (animals display intelligence and communication); Montaigne's radical approach (animal and human language are a kind of continuum). Campanella took sides with the naturalistic party, admitting that animals share discourse capacities, although on a limited scale. His position is compared to the traditional stance taken by Angelo Rocca (1591) and to the experimental approach of Fabrici of Acquapendente (1603).
'E io in Napoli vidi un cane polacco'. Ancora sui linguaggi animali, da Gesner a Campanella
2017
Abstract
Beginning with Campanella's Del senso delle cose e della magia, this paper offers a summary view of the issue of animal language from ca. 1550 to 1637 when Descartes' Discours de la méthode was published. It summarizes three philosophical orientations: the concept of vis aestimativa developed by Thomas Aquinas and followers (animal mind and communication is a matter of instinct); the naturalistic position based on Aristotle's biological works and on Plutarch and Porphyrius (animals display intelligence and communication); Montaigne's radical approach (animal and human language are a kind of continuum). Campanella took sides with the naturalistic party, admitting that animals share discourse capacities, although on a limited scale. His position is compared to the traditional stance taken by Angelo Rocca (1591) and to the experimental approach of Fabrici of Acquapendente (1603).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
