Wilhelm von Humboldt, a transcendental idealist: on a transcendental philosophy of language

• Grant number: 22/02548-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date until: September 01, 2022
• End date until: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Philosophy of Language
• Principal Investigator: Sheila Vieira de Camargo Grillo
• Grantee: Taciane Domingues Ferreira
• Supervisor: Denis Thouard
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Centre Marc Bloch, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/01490-8 - On the diversity of linguistic constructions and their influence on the spiritual development of mankind, an unpublished translation of Wilhelm von Humboldts canonical work, BP.DR

Abstract

Wilhelm von Humboldt's major work Über die Verschiedenheit des Menschlichen Sprachbaues und ihren Einfluss auf die geistige Entwicklung des Menschengeschlechts (1836) is the object of a detailed study of its transcendental theoretical fundamentals with the aim of being translated to Portuguese for the first time. The prominent specialist Jürgen Trabant states that Humboldt describes the labor of the spirit in Kantian terms, that is, sensibility and intellect interact in the formation of thought; the Kantian Schema is defined by Humboldt as 'thought as a vocal sound', which means that Humboldt contributed to the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant. Nonetheless, according to Trabant Humboldt also took up the task attributed by Leibniz to the study of languages. Since Humboldt was simultaneously working with the perspectives of at least two different idealists, he might as well have developed a system of his own. This project aims to investigate and describe Humboldt as a transcendental idealist with his own particular system. The objective thereof is to write a preface to the first translation of the Verschiedenheit to Portuguese, in which: i) Humboldt will be addressed specifically as a transcendental idealist, which means that ii) he furthered Kant's transcendental system by studying languages and iii) thus, his philosophy of language does not constitute of a miscellany of other idealists' ideas (such as Kant and Leibniz) but constitutes of a whole transcendental philosophy in itself. Humboldt shall have his contribution to the German Idealist tradition documented by this project and said contribution will compose the aforementioned preface. (AU)