International Phenomenological Society

A Note on Cassirer's Philosophy of Language

Author(s): Eric H. Lenneberg
Source: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Jun., 1955), pp. 512-522
Published by: International Phenomenological Society
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A NOTE ON CASSIRER'S
I. THE

DEVELOPMENT

OF

PHILOSOPHY

OF LANGUAGE*

CASSIRER 'S PHILOSOPHY

OF LANGUAGE

Withinterestin problemsposed by the studyof language ever growing,

it is properto analyze the linguisticspeculationsof one of our leading
philosophers:Ernst Cassirer.1
If today Cassirer'srole is somewhatcontroversialbetweenthe various
disciplines,thismay in no smallpart be due to his linguistictheorieswhich
To point
in the course of his lifeunderwentconsiderabletransformation.
out the threadofthoughtin thisparticulararea ofhis workmightproveof
assistance in the understandingof Cassirer's thinking.
Time and again Cassirerwroteabout the place of language in cognition
(Erkenntnis),but onlyin his main work,Die PhilosophiederSymbolischen
do we encountersubstantialreferenceto and use of concreteemFormen,2
piricallanguageexamples.When Cassirerwas asked by his English-speaking friends,early in the forties,to translatethese tomes into English,he
foundthat he had developedaway fromhis earlierposition,3and, instead
oftranslatingthe PSF, he wrotea new book,An Essay on Man. The treatfrom
mentof languagethat emergedfromthis new book is quite different
that in the PSF. AlthoughCassirerstated that one of his aims in writing
versionof
the Essay was to produce a shorterbut more comprehensible
the PSF,4 it would seeminconceivablethat such pronouncedchangescould
have been due entirelyto space economy.Consideronlythreeof the most
outstandingof these changes.
1) The PSF is permeatedwith concepts of evolutionand of dialectic
Language,whichforCassirerwas theentelechyofknowledge,5
progressions.
is traced there throughwhat he consideredto be steps of development.
Influencedby Wundt, he discusses forinstance the successiveformative
* I am indebtedto Dr. G. J. Metcalf,The Universityof Chicago,who has kindly
discussedwithme someofthe problemsraisedin thisarticle.
1 There is no dearthof interpretations
and discussionsof Cassirer'sphilosophy;
cf.Paul ArthurSchilpp,ed., The PhilosophyofErnstCassirer,Evanston,1949.Inasmuchas thepresentarticleis focussedon a particularpointin Cassirer'sphilosophy
his philosophynor to
of language,no attemptis made here eitherto reinterpret
reviewthe literatureabout it.
2 Berlin,1923 (vol. I); 1925 (vol. II); 1929 (vol. III). All references
to this work
will subsequentlyappear as PSF.
8 An Essay on Man, New Haven, 1944,p. vii. Hereafterreferred
to as Es8ay.
4Ibid.
6

PSF, I, 1-51.
512

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CASSIRER'S PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

513

stages of mimesis,analogy, and symbolic presentationsElsewhere he

speaks of conceptsthat evolve fromconcrete,substantial beginningsto
abstract and substance-lesssymbols.7Again, throughouthis discussionof
space, time,and numberhe holds that the perceptionof realityproceeds
from undifferentiated
totalities to finedifferentiation.'
And all of these
ascendancieshe illustrateswithlinguisticexamplestaken frommorethan
thirtylanguages,both livingand extinct,fromclinical reportsof pathological speech, from psychological literature, from autobiographical
material.9
Some ten-odd years after the firstvolume of the PSF was written,
Cassirerexpresseshimselfagainst linguistictheoriesbased on the concept
and declaresthat neitherHerbartnor Wundt (to whoseviews
of mimesis"0
6 PSF,

I, 136f. and passim.

I, 122-132and passim.
8 PSF, I, 146-208.
9There are severalpassages in the PSF whichcould be interpreted
as if Cassirer
had not intendedto documentdevelopmentaltheoriesby means of language exwereadopted,how
amples (e.g. I, 137,257,274). However,if such an interpretation
werewe to understandsuch phrasesas erste,zweite,dritteStufe,or niedere,hoehere
Stufe (I, 141,171,179ff.)?What wouldthe meaningbe of schondie aeltesteSchicht
der Raumbezeichnung
(I, 164) or ein weitererSchrittauf demWegezur generischen
Allgemeinheit
(I, 261)? If these were figuresof speech-methodologicalschemata
devoid ofobjectivecorrelatesin the empiricallanguagematerial-thenquotationof
but, indeed,misleading.
languageexampleswouldnot onlybe superfluous
10"Die Sprache und der Aufbau der Gegenstandswelt"DeutscheGesellsehaft
fuer Psychologie,Berichtueberden XII Kongress,April 1931,p. 134. Even in the
PSF Cassirer expressedhimselfoccasionally(I, 21 ff.,42 if., 129-135,III; 128 ff.)
against the traditionaltheoriesof the originof languagebased on the principleof
imitation.Whilehe did not therepostulatea primevallanguagestage ofpureimitation,he had by no meansdiscardedthe notionthat the mimeticexpressionsconstiI, 140 and
tute a primitivesubstratumoflanguage.(Cf. his conceptofLautmetapher
his discussionof imitationI, 137ff.)In an earlierlecture("Der Begriffder SymboBibliothekWarburg,Vortraege
lischenForm im Aufbauder Geisteswissenschaften"
1921-22,Leipzig,1923)Cassirer'spositionis even less ambiguous;besidetheprogresdesvielgeschmaehten
sionfrommimesisto analogyhe speaksthereoftheEhrenrettung
(p. 19). Even the deicticprincipleis reducedin the
Prinzips der Lautnachahmung
PSF to imitation(cf. NaturlauteI, 149 and vokaleGestenI, 150 both of whichare
whenwe tryto harmonize
Wundtianconcepts).We are up againsta logicaldifficulty
Cassirer's conceptof the symbolwith his subscriptionto imitation.A symbol,he
holds, resultsin the amalgamof an objective stimulusand a subjectivereaction.
and
Symbolizationis an original,autonomousact of the intellect,an Urfunktion,
therelationofsymbolto symbolized(das symbolische
Grundverhaeltni8)
is an Urphenomen (PSF, III, 144.) There need not be a naturalsimilaritybetweenthe expression
(the exterioraspect of the symbol)and the signifiedobject. (cf. discussionof the
role of the reflex,PSF I, Introductionand p. 132). Throughoutthe PSF Cassirer
emphasizesthat the symbolis neverjust a replicaof an objectiverealitybut rather
the formulationof relations(PSF, III, 147 ff.).If, however,symbolizationis said
7 PSF,

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514

PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENOLOGICALRESEARCH

he had so far generallyadhered in his phenomenologyof language) had

proposedtheoriesby means of which the essence of language could be
understood.Thus he is clearlyunderminingthe very basis on which the
developmentaltheoriesof the PSF had been erected.
In theEssay, again ten yearslater,genetic"explanations"ofthe essence
of language are altogetherrepudiated,especiallywhen such explanations
purportto be based on empirical,language-historical
evidence.11At this
pointa basic aspect of Cassirer'sthoughtas exhibitedin the PSF is fundamentallytransformed.
2) The change,throughout
theyears,in Cassirer'sphilosophyoflanguage
also becomes evident if we study the use which he makes of linguistic
evidenceover the years of his research.Cassirer's earliest statementon
symbolicforms12has but a few linguisticcorroborations.He introduces
the subject matter as lying specificallyoutside of either history or
"culturology" (Kulturwissenschaft)
and specifies it as "systematischIn such a contextthescantinessofempiricalmaterialis not
philo8ophisch."
surprising.In the PSF, publishedtwo years later,the linguisticspeculationsassumea newcharacter:theyare nowpresentedas a "phenomenology
of language."13In the prefacehe states that he has endeavoredto answer
the philosophicalquestionsposed in that book by referenceto empirical,
linguisticresearchand evidence.-4And later on, withdeeperphilosophical
significance:
In defining
the distinctivecharacterof any spiritualform,it is essentialto
measureit by its ownstandards.The criteriaby whichwe judge it and apmustnot be drawnfromoutside,but mustbe taken
praise its achievement,
fromits ownfundamental
law offormation.15
Philosophicalinquiryinto artisticas well as mythicaland linguisticexpressionis in danger of missingits mark if, instead of immersingitself
to be possible at the earlieststage of developmentwithoutthe need of a natural
connectionbetweensymboland symbolized,and if,on the otherhand,the trendof
symbolizationis complete dissimilaritybetweensignifiedand signifier(I, 135),
whythenpostulatealso a primarymimeticstage, and whythen is it necessaryto
stressthe onomatopoeticprincipleas an importantfactorin the originand developmentof language?
11Essay, 116-119.
Vortraege,
12Warburg
1921-22.
13 The first
Form.
dersprachlichen
volumehas the subtitle,Zur Phaenomenologie
see Fritz
For a discussionof Cassirer'sconceptand use of the termphenomenology
Kaufmann,"Cassirer,Neo-Kantianism,and Phenomenology"in the Philosophyof
ErnstCassirer,823ff.
14 PSF, I, p. viii.
15 PSF, I, 122. Passages quoted in English are taken fromRalph Manheim's
translationofthe PSF, Yale UniversityPress,New Haven, 1953,but p. refs.are to
the Germanedition.

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CASSIRER'SPHILOSOPHYOF LANGUAGE

515

freelyin the particularformsand laws of expression,it starts fromdogmatic assumptionsregardingthe relationbetween "archetype" and "reproduction," "reality" and "appearance," "inner" and "outer" world.
The questionmustratherbe whetherthese distinctionsare not determined
through
art, through
languageand through
myth,and whethereach of these
formsmust not draw its distinctionsaccordingto different
perspectives,
and consequentlyset up different
dividinglines.16

a basic formof
Language is forCassirera "Grundform
des Verstehens,"
knowledge,and since he emphasizesin the PSF that such a formcan only
be characterizedand understoodin its own and peculiarterms,it is easy
to see why he embarkedthereon a study of grammarsand linguisticresearch.In the PSF Cassirerholds,in line withphilosophicalidealism,that
the distinctionbetweenessence and formis merelya methodologicalabstractionand that both concepts,essenceas well as form,have one and the
same referent.
Applyingthisto languagehe says:
Here again that relationbetween"essence" and "form,"whichis expressed
in the old Scholasticdictumformadatesse rei,is confirmed
also forlanguage.
Epistemologycannotanalyzethesubstanceand formofknowledgeintoindependentcontentswhich are only outwardlyconnectedwith one another;
the two factorscan onlybe thoughtand definedin relationto one another;
and likewisein language,pure, naked substanceis a mere abstraction-a
methodologicalconceptto whichno immediate"reality,"no empiricalfact
corresponds.17

In Cassirer'sphilosophya studyoflanguageis clearlymorethan the study

of various outward forms that encompass independentand universal
thoughts-this would presupposean actual distinctionbetweenthe being
of knowledgeand the formof knowledge.Instead he considersit to be the
studyof different
typesofknowledge
altogether.The being of knowledgeis
its form,and sincelanguagesdiffer
fromone anotherin theirform,Cassirer
holds that they also embody different
kinds of knowledge."8
This is the
the PSF. We can see fromthe language
skeletonofassumptionsunderlying
examples cited by Cassirerthroughoutthe PSF that he believed at that
timethat the essenceof knowledgecan be studiedbyanalyzingmorphological, syntactical,semantic,and even phonologicalphenomenaof language.
of languagesor the typologicalclassificaOnly the overallcharacterization
tionoflanguagesintopolysynthetic,
agglutinative,and isolatingor analytic
types he rejected as irrelevant for epistemologicalinvestigationsof
language.'9 It is the individual linguisticdetail which,to him, revealed
knowledgeas manifestedin languages.
16 PSF,

I, 123.
I, 278.
18 This is the
implicationofall commentson languageexamplescitedin the PSF.
19 PSF, I, 278.
17 PSF,

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516

PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENOLOGICALRESEARCH

In the Essay reference

to linguisticdetailhas almostcompletely
disappeared.It looksas if Cassirer'sposition,whichin the PSF was subforms,is now derivedprimarily
stantiatedby the citationof linguistic

fromtheoreticalconsiderations.Data produced by empiricallinguistics

have now the characterof analogies ratherthan of validation. Indeed, a
themein the Essayis that the epistemologicalaspect oflanguage
recurrent
The PSF gave the imprescannotbe discoveredin a studyof grammar.20
sionthat each individuallanguagegenerateda peculiartypeof knowledge;

itishumanspeechas suchthatis treatedas a medium

intheEssay,
however,
ofknowledge,
detailhas recededintothebackground
whilethelinguistic
oftheexposition.2"
material
is Cassirer's
3) Closelyrelatedto thechangein use oflinguistic
of space and time.In the PSF theseepistemological
varyingtreatment
- timearenotonlydiscussed
in theirgeneticsuccession-space
categories
- number- objectivity-(Cassirer
also tracesthe evolutionwithineach
withlinguistic
themselves
are illustrated
category),but the successions
or lexicalcharacter.
Not so in the
idiomatic,
examplesofa grammatical,
"The HumanWorldofSpaceandTime"
Essay.The shortchapterentitled
prevenient
fromlanguage.Unliketheother
has not a singleillustration
to thePSF formoredetaileddiscussions.
chapters,
it doesnotevenrefer
II. AN EXPLANATION OF CHANGES OBSERVED

The followingcriticalanalysis of the treatmentof language in the PSF

is offered
as an explanationof the changesthat took place when Cassirer

yearslaterin theEssay.
discussedlanguagetwenty
word-meanings
fora theory
ofindividual
a) TheProblem
ofthesignificance
forentirespeech
of knowledge.-If
languagesare matricesof knowledge
as Cassirerassumed,thequestionariseswhatand howmuch
communities,
mustwe knowabouta languagein orderto haveaccessto theessenceof
that
in thatlanguage?Can a grammar
thatis beingmanifested
knowledge
worldof
is written
in a Europeanlanguagegiveus a clueto theintellectual
the peopleswho speakKlamath,Baikiri,Ewe, an Eskimolanguage,an
thus
Athapascanlanguage,Mande, Nuba?22Is not our information,
neededforthe
constructs
bythetheoretical
gathered,
likelytobe distorted
means
How muchdo we knowaboutthelinguistic
writing
ofa grammar?
at thedisposalofa peopleafterwe have learnedthattheirlanguagehas
20Essay, 126ff-

21 Cf. Essay 128 if. The concretelanguage examples are crowdedinto the last
threepages of the chapteron language. Nevertheless,the earlierviewpointthat
(Weltansicht)has not
everylanguageis the mark of a peculiar world-perspective
been completelyeradicated.'Cf. 120.
22 Languagesfrequently
quoted in the PSF.

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CASSIRER'S PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

517

no one word for our word W or that in theirlanguage only one word is
used forourwordsW1,W2, W3 ... W.?23 What do we knowabout a people's
language when we hear that a certainmetaphoris used in a contextin
whichwe apparentlydo not use a metaphor?24
These types of statement
are fartoo particularistic,
too incoherent,too much out of contextto give
us a comprehensive
idea of a people's linguisticways and means towards
expression.From the propositionthat language and knowledgeconstitute
an entityit need not followthat individualwords correspondto specific
"units" of knowledge,nor that we can learn somethingabout knowledge
by simplydiscussingthe meaningof a word. There is no cogentreason to
assume that the grammarian'sarticulationof the stream of speech is
coterminouswith an articulationof knowledgeor the intellect.We may
thinkof languageas "path-finder"forknowledgewithouteitherhavingto
assume the distinctionbetweenbeing and form(whichwas so odious to
Cassirer),or that an inspectionof wordswill introduceus to the natureof
cognition(an assumptionwhichinvolvesseveraldifficulties
to be discussed
presently).If -we choose to believe in such a thingas the "genius" of a
language (in the sensein whichthe idealistsfromHerderto K. Vosslerhave
used the word),25then we must at least admit that nothingshort of a
completemastery-an actual "living in the language"-will reveal to us
thatgenius.An armchairknowledgeofone or anotherisolatedlanguagefact
about someremotelanguage,presentedto us in the drab garbofa grammar
writtenin Germanor English,is as likelyto give us a feelingforthe "spirit
23 This typeofstatement
thePSF: theBaikirihave no generic
is foundthroughout
wordforeitherparrotor palmtreebut namesforeveryindividualspecies ofparrots
or palmtrees(258); on the otherhand,theyhave onlyone wordforthe Germanich,
meines,das ist mein,das gehoert
mir,etc. (221); the old Egyptianwordkod stands
forthe mostvariedconcepts:to makepottery,to be a potter,to form,to create,to
construct,to work,to draw,to navigate,to travel,to sleep; also in a nominalsense:
circle,ring (256); there
likeness (Ebenbild),picture,simile,likeness(Aehnlichkeit),
are 5744namesforthe camel in Arabian (258), yet not one of these gives a general
biological concept (Essay, 135. ApparentlyCassirermisunderstoodhis source; see
Das Kamel, Kais. Akad. d. Wiss. Phil.-Hist. KI., Wien 1855f.
Hammer-Purgstall,
vols. VI & VII, p. 10).
24 Instancesaboundthroughout
thePSF: insteadofthe Germanwordshinterand
vor,the Mande people have wordsmeaningthe "back or buttock" and "eye" respectively;theirwordforthe Germanauf means "neck;" in means "belly." (157).
actuallymeans "a man
The wordwhichcorrespondsin Eskimo to our word twenty
is completed" (i.e. all his fingersand toes have been counted) (184). In MalayoPolynesian languages the phrase fivehorsesmeans literally "horses, five tails;"
fourstonesmeansliterally"stones,fourroundbodies," etc. (190).
in the
26 In the PSF Cassirer uses W. v. Humboldt's terminnereSprachform;
if
Essay he speaks of the "spiritof language." The termsappear to be synonymous
we mayjudge by thecontext.

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518

RESEARCH
PHILOSOPHYANDPHENOMENOLOGICAL

in a cake
ofthephysicalelements
contained
ofa language"as knowledge

is likelyto make us experiencethe taste of the cake.26It is yet an unan-

a languagewithwhichwe havehadno livingconsweredquestionwhether

and ofwhichwe havebutthevaguestacademicknowledge
tactwhatever
analysis.
can be subjected successfullyto a phenomenonological
b) The problemof selectionof languageexamples.-Throughoutthe first

stages.
intermsofdevelopmental
volumeofthePSF languageis discussed
however,
thathe does not believe
Timeand again Cassireremphasizes,
the idea
and he rejectstherefore
thatlanguagesdevelophomogeneously,
by
ofa phylogenetic
arrangement
oflanguagesas forinstancesuggested
In everylanguage,he holds,featuresrepresenting
a
AugustSchleicher.27
lowstageofdevelopment
maycoexistwithfeaturesthatmaybe charace.g.,is "primitive"
"advanced."28
ThusGerman,
terizedas developmentally
classification2
initsgender
but"advanced"incertainaspectsofitsvocabuThe citingofoneand thesamelanguagein different
is not
contexts
lary.30
in itselfmethodologically
unsound.Whatis considerably
moredisturbing
is the fact that Cassirerdrewhis examples,illustratingone and the same
process,froma greatnumberofunrelatedlanguageswithouteven choosing
languagephenomenathathave a commonfunctionaldenominator.Let one
example of the procedurestand for many:
To illustratean assumed evolutionfroma primevalstage of mimesisto

fromthefollowing
a finalone ofsymbolization,3'
Cassirerquotesexamples
unProto-Germanic,
languages:Kawi, Siamesian,Proto-Indoeuropean,
inFr. Mueller'sGrundriss
derSprachwissenidentified
languagesdiscussed
schaft(Vienna,1876-1888),Ewe, Golo, Ethiopian,Yakuts, Ural-Altaic
languages,and Klamath.The phenomenadiscussedare onomatopoieia,
vowelharmony,
distinctions,
noun-verb
pitch-phonemes,
sound-metaphors,
ofthe phenomena
The semanticsignificance
reduplication.
agglutination,
diminuis as variedas space,time,affirmation-negation,
discussed
quantity,
hislinguistic
illustrations
to one
Had Cassirerconfined
tion-augmentation.
in
connectionwith
level of description(e.g. if all examplescited
werepertinent
frommimesisto symbolisation
theevolution
to, say,phoor to syntax)thenit mighthave beenpossible
nology,or to morphology,
of
and tenability
theusefulness
(at leastin theory)to verifyempirically
be
would
then
A basisforcomparison
conceptofevolution.
thatparticular
Cassirermakesa similarpointlater,Essay 121ff.
PSF, I, 278.
28 PSF, I, 265.

26
27

as PSP, I, 268.

30 This is impliedin his discussionof other

languages. Cf. footnotes23 and 24
above.
31 PSF, I, 139-145.

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CASSIRER'S PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

519

thatshouldfollowfromthethesiscouldbe
and the corollaries
established
courseof
checkedagainstobjectivedata. Cassirerchosea lesspositivistic

forphilosoresearchbecause he consideredthemethodologicalrequirements
fromthose for empiricalsciences. In the PSF this is
phy to be different

he makesthispointquiteclear:
implicit.In theEssay,however,

of linguistictypes
The varietyof individualidiomsand the heterogeneity
lightdependingon whethertheyare looked at
appear in a quite different
viewpoint.
froma philosophicalor froma scientific

and
Yet the true unityof language,... cannot be a substantialone; it must
ratherbe definedas a functionalunity.Such a unitydoes not presupposea
languagesmayrepresentopposite
materialor formalidentity.Two different
extremesbothwithrespectto theirphoneticsystemsand to theirparts-ofspeech systems.This does not preventthemfromaccomplishingthe same
The importantthinghereis not
task in the lifeofthe speakingcommunity.
the varietyofmeansbut theirfitnessforand congruitywiththe end.3la

data have quite

hislifethatlinguistic
feltthroughout
Cassirerapparently
contextthan withina
withinan epistemological
a different
significance
descriptive,empirical context. Presumably, the philosophercan see a

commonessencein the languageexamplescitedin the PSF wherethe

facts.Thereis an incondiscerns
onlyincommensurable
linguist
empirical
sistencyhere:on the one hand the PSF championstheunitybetweenbeing

twoaspectsof
aremerely
thatlanguageandknowledge
andform,
declaring
itselfexempt
andontheotherhanditpronounces
oneandthesameessence,

fromthe methodologicalrules which governthose sciences in which the

is
which
forms-arestudied.Thisinconsistency
phenomena-in
perceivable
to
the
almost
complete
minimized
stillpresent)in theEssayowing
(though
data.
omissionoflinguistic
amongthelanguageexcommondenominator
The lack ofa functional
disproveCassirer'sviews;
amplescitedin the PSF does not necessarily
As
assumpis addedbytheircitation. longas theunderlying
-yetno weight
somevestigesof
tionsarethatanylanguagemayormaynothaveretained
inanyaspectoflanguage
maybe retained
an archaicstage;thatarchaisms
in
themselves an unpredictable
variety
behaviorandthattheymaypresent
an archaism
of whatconstitutes
decision
of appearances;and, that the
absolutely
interpretation,
onuniqueand,in a sense,arbitrary
restsentirely
anythingthat we may findin a languagecan eitherbe said to belongto an
or a late stage of development.In view of this it
early,an intermediary,
ever
to finda phenomenonthat could contradictthe
will be impossible
for
which empiricalsubstantiationis being sought,and we might
theory
81a

Essay 129f.

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RESEARCH
PHILOSOPHYAND PHENOMENOLOGICAL

to linguisticmaterial
thussave ourselvesthetroubleofstudyingor referring
in the firstplace.
is this.The scholasticmaximformadatesserei
In summary,thedifficulty
whichis so essentialin Cassirer'sphilosophywould logicallydemand that
linguisticdata always "mean" the same thing,no matterwhetherviewed
froman empirical(i.e. formal) or froma philosophicalstandpoint.If a
uninand therefore
particulararrayof linguisticfactsis incommensurable
unity
terpretableby the empiricallinguist,the doctrineof the being-form
philosophishouldautomaticallydisqualifysuchmaterialfroma meaningful
cal interpretation.
The empiricaldata workedinto the PSF add littleto
Cassirer'stheoryand this may well be the reasonforthe greatlyshortened
treatmentof language in the Essay.
languageboundaries.-Considerthe followc) Theproblemoftranscending
ofCassirer'sthought:
ingpropositionwhichis basic foran understanding
The spiritapprehendsitselfand its antithesisto the "objective" worldonly
by bringingcertaindistinctionsinherentin itselfinto its view of the phenomenaand, as it were,injectingthemintothe phenomena.32

Accordingto Cassirer language reflectsand is a perceivableaspect of

the intellector spirit(Geist)." This beliefled him to hope that he might
be able to "demonstratethe truth" of the above propositionby showing
termsbecause
that the objectiveworldis actuallyknownin quite different
languagesdeal with it in such diversifiedways.34In the PSF he assumed
that the Weltanschauungenencompassedby the individuallanguages are
obligatoryupon the speakers. Once these assumptionsare accepted and
used as startingpoints for empiricalinvestigationsthey cannot help but
lead the investigatorto a deadlock: as a rule (not withoutexceptions)
we have only one native language and thus our knowledgeof the world
would be mediated,accordingto those assumptions,by only one language
system.If we studyotherlanguagesit shouldbecomeexceedinglydifficult,
if at all possible,to rid ourselvesof the mediatingeffectexercisedby our
own native language in our endeavorsto knowsomethingabout an unfamiliarlanguage.As long as we satisfyourselveswithreading,in our own
tongue,about some individualfactspertainingto such a foreignlanguage,
thosefactsfall obviouslyinto the same categoryas the "phenomenaofthe
objective world" and cannot be conceived except in terms of our own
32PSF I, 123.
38 Refs.and implications
thePSF, I: Sprache... Grundto thiseffectthroughout
dessensich,
vermoege
formdes Verstehens(p.v.); Sprache. . . geistigesGrundmittel,
zu derWeltderAnschauungen
vonderblossenEmpfindungswelt
fueruns derFortschritt
vollzieht(20); Sprache. . . als Spiegelbilddes Geistes(146).
und Vorstellungen
34PSF, I, p. viii by implication.

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CASSIRER'SPHILOSOPHYOF LANGUAGE

521

"knowledge-structure."
The claim that one may discover differences
in
"knowledgeof the world" by inspectingdescriptionsof languagesbecomes
a logical impossibility
if one holds at the same time that we cannot know
(erkennen)exceptin termsof [our own native]3" language. In accordance
with the argumentadvanced here it can, of course,not be demonstrated
empiricallythat Cassirerdid or did not succeed in transcendinglanguage
boundarieswhendiscussingforeignlanguages.Yet it is interesting
to note
that at least some of his discussionsare apparentlybiased by an "IndoEuropean pointofview."38as shownby the following.
In PSF I, chapterIV, Cassirerpostulatesan ubiquitoustrendtowards
generalizationof concepts.The primitivestage is characterized,he asserts,
by a proliferation
of termsdenotingseparatelyeach constituentof a given
logical categorywithout,however,having a general term which would
denote the categoryas such. In the course of linguistic(and thereforeintellectual) developmentan ever more generalizingand subsumingterminology evolves until finallythe logicalcategoryitselfis abstracted and
labelled witha term.To illustratethe early stage, Cassirercites a report
by Trumbullaccordingto whichsomeAmericanIndian Languageslack our
generalconcepts"to eat" and "to strike."37Instead of these generalconcepts veryspecificsub-conceptsare used bythespeakersoftheselanguages,
describingin greatdetail the exact modalitiesof eating and striking.ApparentlyCassirerwas not aware that the Germanwordsessenand schlagen
are not logical and all inclusive categorieseither.Essen for instance is
never substitutedforfressenor fuettern
althoughthey both referto the
intake of food.Likewisethe wordschlagendoes not includesuch activities
as peitschen,
boxen,hacken,whereasthese togetherwithschlagenmightbe
subsumed logicallyunder the categoryviolentaction upon an object,for
whichwe have no singlegeneralterm.In theseillustrationsCassirerseems
to have been deceivedby the factthat a givenconceptexistingin his own
language is lackingin manyothers.
III. CONCLUSION

In view of Cassirer's neo-Kantian position some interpretersof his

philosophymay say that the many references
to linguisticmaterialin the
36 The wordsourownnativeare myowninterpolations.
In termsof Cassirer'sown
argumentshe had no means ofviewingall the languageshe cited froma completely
objective viewpoint,i.e. one that is not biased at every step by his own native
language.
'f For a moredetailedtreatment
and furtherillustrationsof this pointmypaper
The linguistictheoriesin ErnstCassirer'sPhilosophiederSymbolischen
Formenmay
be consulted.It was submitted,unpublished,to the facultyof GermanicLanguages
and Literatureat the Universityof Chicagoin fulfillment
of degreerequirements.
87PSF I, 258.

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522

PHILOSOPHYAND PHENOMENOLOGICALRESEARCH

byCassireras empirical
evidence,
i.e. as corroboraPSF werenotregarded
tionofhypotheses
through
senseperception,
but werethoughtof as immediateand self-evident
manifestations
ofreason.Suchan interpretation,
whilegivinga certaindepthto Cassirer'sthought,
failshoweverto solve
thefollowing
difficulty:
Detailsofforeign
languageshaveto be learnedby
us orareknownbyus in exactlythesamemanneras certaindetailsofthe
objectiveworld.If ourknowledge
oftheobjectiveworldis actuallysubject
to and moldedby the modesof cognition
that are "builtinto" our inand if everylanguageconstitutes
tellectual
faculties,
a modeofcognition
ofits own(as impliedby Cassirerand otherphilosophers,
e.g. J. Stenzel
and W. Urban),thenit shouldbe impossible
everto knowthe objective
intellectual
essenceofan alienlanguage,particularly
whenwe knowthat
alienlanguageonlythrough
themediumofliteraltranslation
intoourown
At the timeCassirerwrotethe E8say he had by and large
language.38
abandonedthe view that everylanguagerepresents
a specificmodus
Insteadit is humanspeechas suchwhichhe nowheldto be the
cogitandi.
symbolicmediumthatis essentialforthe fullrealizationof knowledge.
The formaldetailofthismedium,
however,
he no longerregarded
as particularly
relevantto a theoryofknowledge.
If ourknowledge
offoreign
languagesis thesameinnatureas ourknowlaboutlanguagessuchas the
edgeoftheobjectiveworld,thenspeculations
about a naturalphePSF assumethe characterof workinghypotheses
nomenonso thatthe references
to concretelanguageexamplesbeginto
verification
ofan evidenceforsuchhypotheses.
appearas empirical
Under
thesecircumstances
it becomesreasonable
to questionthelogicalsoundness
andinthisconnection
hisprocedure
ofCassirer's"methods
ofverification,"
and interpreting
data mustbe earnestly
forgathering,
arranging,
linguistic
criticized
froman empirical
pointofview.
ofunrelated
Whilethereseemedtobe a needtopointoutthata collection
is no evidenceforany hypothesis
requotationsfromvariousgrammars
the argument
that
of language,certainly
function
gardingthe cognitive
data in thePSF areunproductive
doesnotat thesametime
thelinguistic
of the symbolis a great
of a philosophy
denythatthe basic conception
has
to epistemology.
thenatureofthiscontribution
contribution
However,
in the philosophical
literature
to need any
been dealt withsufficiently
further
confirmation
here.
ERIC H. LENNEBERG.
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.
38 The difficulties
posed in thisconnectionby the processoftranslationhave been
discussedin detail in my article "Cognitionin Ethnolinguistics"Languagevol. 29
(1953)pp. 463-471.

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