The Other as Language: from the Hierarchy of Languages to the Hierarchy of Nations

Abstract

Abstract: It may seem obvious to conceive language as a means of communication and description of the world, and that language is – through its categories – only a reflection of the order of things. However, modern and contemporary linguistic studies have challenged this conception and have re-established, differently, the relationship between language, reality, thought and the spirit of the nation. Consequently, the variety of languages leads, de facto, to the idea of otherness, which, in turn, leads to a basic conceptual distinction, in philosophy and anthropology, between “oneself” and “the other”. Therefore, it is more appropriate to deal with otherness through the language of “the other”, its most symbolic, complex and significant aspect. Objectives: This study aims to show that the variety of languages presents us with a challenge, because it has been ideologically instrumentalized by establishing a certain hierarchy of languages that has resulted in a hierarchy between nations, and has not remained only an epistemological theme in philosophy, anthropology and linguistics. Methodology: We based our analysis on an analytical and critical reading of certain texts by Wilhelm von Humboldt and other key figures who have contributed to this debate. Keywords: Variety of languages, mentality of the nation, Hierarchy of languages, Hierarchies of nations, philosophy and anthropology