Lord Monboddo's Of the origin and progress of language: its sources, genesis and background, with special attention to the Advocates' Library

Abstract

This thesis examines the sources and early development of Lord Monboddo's Of the Origin and Progress of Language (6 volumes, 1773-1792) against its contemporary intellectual background in order to gain a fuller understanding of the aims and significance of the work in the context of its time. The thesis is particularly concerned with Monboddo's wide use of the holdings of the Advocates' Library and the influence on him of the sixteenth century humanist tradition of Scottish jurisprudence associated with its foundation.

The thesis concentrates on the first two volumes of OPL, which deal with the natural history of language and universal grammar, because they contain the essence of Monboddo's views on language. However, rhetoric (the subject of the remaining four volumes) is essential to the background and is therefore dealt with in a general way.

It is argued that Monboddo's main purpose was to offer a solution to the linguistic, cultural and philosophical problems confronting Scotland after the Union; and that his solution involved restoring the Scottish Enlightenment to its original humanist principles. That is, in place of the empirical science of Man proposed by Locke and Hume, Monboddo proposed a human science based on the Aristotelian principles of languages of art. It is also argued that Monboddo's philosophical, linguistic and legal views are completely consistent.