Frege's Writings on Language and Spoken Word
Philosopher Gottlob Frege Explores Lanugage in "Conceptual Notation"
In Gottlob Frege’s On the Scientific Justification of Conceptual Notation, he explores the workings and limitations of language, specifically relating to the written versus the spoken word. He begins this piece by noting the imperfect nature of language, and how this lack of perfection leads to the inability to avoid misunderstandings on the part of others and in one’s self.
Frege makes note of how the attention is naturally directed outward, and it is one’s sense impressions – perceptions of the outside world – which are the strongest, especially when compared to one’s internal impressions or memories. Furthermore, he argues that both humans and non-humans alike naturally seek to influence their sense impressions, seeking the pleasurable ones and avoiding the not-so-pleasant sense experiences.
Frege on the Use of Symbols and Language
Frege argues that it is the use of symbols or language that enables humans to explore and contemplate sense-experiences on a level that’s beyond superficial. Notably, he does say that one could still form memory images in the absence of symbols, but one would be unable to go beyond that, as without symbols, contemplation and conceptual thinking is not feasible. Frege believes that symbols allow for the exploration of thoughts; we are free to “move about [thoughts] at will.” (P. 25)
But while symbols are indispensable, Frege claims that language “proves to be deficient when it comes to protecting thought from error.” (P. 25) A major obstacle facing language is its ambiguity, according to Frege. And this ambiguity is displayed at its worst and most dangerous when the words’ meanings are only slightly different. Furthermore, he argues that language is not black and white, “it is not governed by logical laws in such a way that mere adherences to grammar would guarantee the formal correctness of thought processes.” (P. 25) He implies that language is very complex and successful use of language cannot be accomplished by following a recipe – it’s deeper than that.
Frege on Written Word vs. Spoken Word
Within the realm of language, Frege explores the merits of the written word versus the spoken word. He claims that, “the only advantage that the written word has over the spoken word is permanence; with the written word, we can review a train of thought many times without fear that it will change; and thus we can test its validity more thoroughly.” (P. 26)
The spoken word is also discussed as Frege notes how sounds are more commonly linked to emotion, and therefore, spoken language holds the ability to “do justice to event the most delicate combinations and variations of feelings.” (P. 27) In other words, spoken language is the paintbrush that gets in all the nooks and crannies that the paint roller simply misses.
A Summary of Frege's View on Language
Frege makes one significant comparison that sums up his view on language. He compares language to the human hand, “which despite its adaptability to the most diverse tasks, is still inadequate. We build for ourselves artificial hands, tools for particular purposes, which work with more accuracy than the hand can provide. And how is this accuracy possible? Through the very stiffness and inflexibility of parts, the lack of which makes the hand so dexterous… We need a system of symbols from which every ambiguity is banned.” (P. 27.)
Source: Conceptual Notation - On the Scientific Justification of Conceptual Notation, by Gottlob Frege, translated by Terrell Ward Bynum. Published by Oxford University Press, 1972.
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Gottlob Frege's Conceptual Notation
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