Sem.

Jonathan DePadua Racelis Philosophy of Language and Culture

Philosophy IV Fr. Jayson Gaite

Language and Culture in Humboldt

Wilhelm von Humboldt argues that language is a natural activity created by mental
processes in the human mind rather than a result. Feelings, ideas, and choices are examples
of mental states. The internal element of the language and the sound form make up the form
of the language. Language is required for both thinking and accurate communication of
ideas. Humboldt asserted that "Language is deeply entwined in the spiritual evolution of
mankind, it accompanies the latter at every stage of its local advance or retreat, and the state
of culture at any time is also recognizable in it".

In this sense, language is a dynamic activity passed on through the generations. In

his essay On Language, Humboldt explores the interaction between language and concept,
arguing that language is a means of communicating ideas and the formative organ of
thinking. "The individual man is constantly associated with a whole, with that of his
country, with that of the race to which he belongs, and with that his species," he writes.
Individual language users talk to communicate; nonetheless, communication occurs in
groups. As a result, particular linguistic activity is related to the activity of a country, a race,
and the human species as a whole.

Language sets the limitations of knowledge in the absence of language. Language is

the means through which we think and learn. According to Humboldt, we behave in
accordance with a shared worldview when we repeat mental patterns, whether consciously
or subconsciously, or when we translate them into expressions. At this stage, we may say
that culture impacts language development and that language affects our thinking,
perception of the environment, and culture creation. I can liken these sentences in what I am
as a Seminarian, from which as Humboldt stated that we behave in accordance with a shared
worldview. It is true therefore in a sense that we must act and live what we are, in terms of
the dignity of our identity. For example, the fact that I am a seminarian shows that what
people expect from me must be that of a soon-to-be-Priest, for it is already given that it is
what I am being formed into, to become a Priest someday. What I think, say, and do must
always act accordingly to that of a Priest, to that of Jesus Christ. In my perspective and
understanding, this is what Humboldt is trying to show when he said whether conscious or
subconsciously, or even translated into expressions. Our culture, as Humboldt declares it,
impacts our language. The same with my situation as a seminarian, the culture that I belong,
plays a huge role in developing myself, therefore affecting me as who I am.