La perfezione dell’artificialità. La riflessione linguistica sull’organizzazione e la trasmissione del sapere

the concern with the benefits and hindrances that natural languages bring into knowledge communication and representation has been a core issue throughout the Western tradition of linguistic studies, which includes the search for a perfect or “perfected” linguistic system. the need for a pre cise and unequivocal communication code – which could serve both gen eral and specialised organization and transmission of knowledge – led to distinct lines of linguistic research, the rationalist and the empiricist. these developed into different linguistic theories and applications. Here the empiricist tradition is briefly sketched, with 17th-century encyclopaedism and the elaboration of philosophical language schemes. still the main focus is on pointing out a part of the roots of modern terminology which is often neglected. Eugen Wuster’s foundation of terminology is generally consid ered an answer to the practical needs for an (international) standardised lex icon. Indeed, its origins should be related also to an in-depth competence in contemporary linguistic theories, and the mastery of a planned language such as Esperanto.