Università Roma Tre

The course aims to highlight the convergence, or even the substantial identity, between the two famous Aristotelian definitions of Homo sapiens: "animal that has language" and "political animal". By studying the texts of some important linguists and philosophers of language (E. Benveniste, JL Austin), as well as the major work of Hannah Arendt, Vita activa, we would like to clarify the reasons why verbal language must be considered the biological organ of public practice.

The course aims to highlight the convergence, or even the substantial identity, between the two famous Aristotelian definitions of Homo sapiens: "animal that has language" and "political animal". By studying the texts of some important linguists and philosophers of language (E. Benveniste, JL Austin), as well as the major work of Hannah Arendt, Vita activa, we would like to clarify the reasons why verbal language must be considered the biological organ of public practice.
E. BENVENISTE, Problems of general linguistics, Il Saggiatore, Milan 1971, limited to pages 301-347, including the following essays: The nature of pronouns, The subjectivity in language, The analytic philosophy and language. Available in photocopy.

E. BENVENISTE, Problems of general linguistics II, Il Saggiatore, Milan 1987, limited to the following essays: The language and human experience, pp. 83-95; The formal apparatus of the enunciation, pp. 96-106. Available in photocopy.

H. ARENDT, Vita activa, Bompiani (paperback edition, on the market), limited to chapters 1, 2, 5. To be purchased.