Sem.

Jonathan DePadua Racelis Philosophy of Language and Culture

Philosophy IV Fr. Jayson Gaite

Leibniz’s Project: Ideal Language

Natural languages, according to Leibniz, are poor reflectors of thinking and make
reasoning difficult. Ordinary language does not reflect one's thinking; therefore, reason in it
is difficult. He proposes that common language and the language of science and philosophy
be distinguished since ordinary language is inferior to science and philosophy. The ideal
language would have universality and explicitness, and it would be made up of symbols for
indefinite and straightforward concepts. The model, universal language that Leibniz
envisioned, can only be realized if natural language similarities are taken into account.

This complication of the ordinary language can just be expressed more simply and
can be reduced into simple concepts. Each of these fundamental notions would be assigned a
symbol, and the ideas of ideal language would be communicated via signs in this fashion.
The unity of this perfect language would be formed by combining these symbols according
to predetermined criteria. The characters of simple and undefined phrases would make up
the propositions of this universal language. To establish propositions and arguments using
these symbols, it is necessary to develop universal logical principles and reduce complex
concepts and determine signs. Leibniz's perfect language project may be broken down into
four phases. The creation of a mental alphabet is the first stage. The result of universal
grammar is the second. The third step is to define syntactic rules for combining and using
these symbols in propositions, and the fourth step is to create a dictionary of these symbols'
meanings. The following is the evolution of these steps: Complex concepts will be
simplified to primary terms in natural languages. A sign will be used to express each basic
word. In the ideal language, these symbols will be utilized to make propositions.

The guidelines will be developed for the result of combining these symbols. Logical
principles will be used to bring the propositions of ideal language together. A symbol
dictionary will be created to be widely used and remembered. Languages are mirrors of the
mind; analyzing words will reveal the mind's inner workings. The above-mentioned artificial
language will mimic human thinking. The essential notion in Leibnitz's philosophy is that
these two division procedures may be carried out using the same ideas and techniques. In
other words, such an ideal language would help to reach universal knowledge.

The first is Leibniz's aim of an ideal, universal language, and the second is his
inquiry into the shared origins of natural languages by concentrating on historical and
philosophical factors. This two complement and support each other by looking at why an
ideal language can only exist if it is based on similarities among the many natural languages.