This is the study of a line of thought rooted in ancient materialism (Epicure) and its further development through the philosophy of Enlightenment (Locke, Condillac): the stating of a "natural" origin for language (as a corporal response to the environment) and, later on, a redefinition of that original basis as being social, and therefore, arbitrary. The idea of delimitation of the natural world is introduced as the prime condition for survival, i.e., for the production of goods. Culture is then associated to the idea of cultivation. Its delimitations are sanctioned by language by means of names, which do not refer to substances, but to arbitrary collections of qualities. Names are only differentiating, variable forms, just as sensorial impressions are variable from an individual to another. Culture works as a guarantee of agreement, producing a uniform effect for designations. Language is then a means of naming a world which is classified in a certain way so as to allow stable predications among those who share such classifications, thus sharing a culture.
culture; philosophy of language; semiotics; linguistics; communication