The Realism of Leibniz’s Universal Characteristic

• Main Author: Kroupa, Gregor
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Slovenian
• Published: ZRC SAZU, Založba ZRC 2019
• Subjects: Leibniz; realizem; platonizem; univerzalna karakteristika; epistemologija; ontologija; realism; Platonism; universal characteristic; epistemology; ontology; Descartes; Locke; sami
• Online Access: https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/filozofski-vestnik/article/view/7220/6724; https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/filozofski-vestnik/article/view/7220

The article deals with Leibniz’s plan for a universal language, the so-called “universal characteristic”. First, I underline the fact that Leibniz’s plan is based on a certain semiotic aspect of the mathematics, which represents an innovation in the context of the early modern idea of the mathematization of all sciences. Leibniz’s ambitious scheme naturally has some serious shortcomings, which undoubtedly contributed to the fact that he never even began to carry out his project. However, I claim that Leibniz was optimistic about his plan because of his strictly Platonist epistemology, on which the characteristic is founded. In its very theoretical core, the characteristic is possible only insofar as Leibniz adopts classic Platonic realism and renounces the kind of philosophy of consciousness advocated by Descartes and Locke. Based on the promises and the inherent Platonism of the characteristic it then seems that, as a language of nature, the scheme exhibits some striking similarities to a certain tradition of linguistic thought that started with Plato’s Cratylus and still had its advocates in Leibniz’s days. Članek obravnava Leibnizev načrt filozofskega jezika, t. i. »univerzalno karakteristiko«. Najprej izpostavimo dejstvo, da Leibnizev načrt temelji na določenem semiotičnem vidiku matematike, ki v kontekstu novoveške ideje matematizacije vseh znanosti predstavlja novost. Kakorkoli ima Leibnizev drzen načrt resne pomanjkljivosti, ki so nedvomno botrovale temu, da ni nikoli zares začel z njeno izvedbo, pa Leibniz črpa optimizem iz strogo platonistične zasnove svoje epistemologije, v kateri je karakteristika utemeljena. Karakteristika je v sami teoretski zasnovi mogoča le pod pogojem, da se zaveže klasičnemu realizmu in se odpove tisti metodi filozofije zavesti, ki sta jo ustoličila Descartes in Locke. Iz tega, kaj karakteristika obljublja, in iz njene zavezanosti platonizmu pa je videti, da se karakteristika kot jezik narave v ključnih potezah zgleduje po neki tradiciji mišljenja jezika, ki ima svoj začetek v ...