what is the theory of imperfection of language by john locke
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Answer:
Language
The question, then, is how we achieve our communicative goals, and Locke proposed a deceptively simple theory: words signify ideas. Since my own ideas are inaccessible to others, I employ the articulate sounds of human speech as extrinsic sensible objects by means of which to convey my thoughts to others. The absence of any universal human language, Locke argued, shows that the connection between each word and the idea it signifies is not natural but purely conventional, an association established by “voluntary Imposition.” [Essay III ii 1-2] Frequent repetition renders this association so intimate that some ideas may be induced more easily by words than by their referential objects, yet the freedom with which individuals form the requisite association often makes it difficult for a speaker to be sure that the appropriate idea has actually been induced in a hearer. [Essay III ii 6-8] Both the equivocal use of terms and the invention of needless jargon by the learned, Locke supposed, amount to violations of the conventional agreements upon which language is properly founded. [Essay III x 5, 11]
There is a fundamental problem here: since ideas differ from person to person, and even in a single individual at different times, and since the association of word to idea is purely voluntary, even when secured by conventional agreement, it follows that the correct signification of a particular use of any word depends wholly upon the particular idea in the mind of its speaker, to which the hearer has no access except through the mediation of the word. [Essay III ii 2-4] On this view of language, it is always possible that two people interact with each other verbally even though they do not achieve genuine communication because they do not associate similar ideas with the words they employ. In principle, I can never be sure that the sensory idea you experience in association with the word “red” is at all like the one I have when I use that word.
Locke officially granted only two kinds of exception to the general principle that every meaningful word signifies some idea. The first kind of exceptional case includes negative terms—”nothing” or “ignorant,” for example. We don’t need a distinct idea in mind for each of these words, Locke held, since we already have the positive idea whose absence each negative term signifies. [Essay III i 4] The other, more significant, exception comprises syncategorematic terms, what Locke called “particles”—such words as “is,” “of,” and “but.” Such words are not associated with particular ideas, Locke supposed, but “are all marks of some Action, or Intimation of the Mind.” Thus, on theoretical grounds, these terms are techinically insignificant, but serve the important role of providing helpful guidance for interpreting the mental dispositions upon which human reasoning so often depends. [Essay III vii]
Explanation:
The theory of Imperfection of Language by John Locke.
Explanation:
The theory of imperfection of language by John Locke tries to identify the natural weaknesses and abuse of language. Locke says that the biggest problem of imperfection of words is that sometimes words do not excite the listener in the same way it excites the speaker.
It is because words lack actions and expressions. He also says that words may lead to miscommunication if they are too complex. Therefore, he suggest some ways to avoid imperfection of language such as avoiding use of words that one has no clear idea about, use of similar words that most people use and trying to define words on one's own terms.
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